A Chaotic Destiny
by you know not
Summary: Co-written with Shardwing52. The Summary is inside. Warning: will have incest theme.
1. PROLOGUE

Summary: Takes place six months after the final time-skip. They thought that now with their dragon birthmarks removed by the Crimson Dragon, they no longer had to worry about protecting the world. However, things just don't seem to be that simple for Rua. What would you do against an enemy that is beyond this world? What would you do if you made an enemy of the world? Join Rua, Ruka, and some unexpected allies as they struggle to fight against odds like never before.

A/N: Shardwing52 told me to tell you guys that he's sorry. His computer completely bit the dust, so he won't be able to work on his stories for now (This story is still created by both of our efforts. His computer may not work, but he can still send me short messages with his mobile). We also like to thank GoldenUmi and Scooby82101 for their suggestions. Shardwing52 is also letting me publish this for him. He'll still send short suggestions/Ideas, so he'll still be helping.

PROLOGUE

_In the distant future, things are peaceful and quiet. All thanks should be given to Z-one's interference, which led people to become very kind while they threw away selfish desires. The Momentum, which reads people's hearts, has functioned quite nicely in response to mankind's new found peace._

However...something sinister is afoot...

An explosion is heard inside the lab where the Yusei gear resided, shaking it to its foundations. An alarm went off as it lit the halls red while flashing and making noise, due to a mysterious person having carelessly walked through an invisible red laser alarm. Pounding feet mixed with the screaming sirens as they charged towards where the line had been tripped.

"Hmph." came a disgruntled voice from the mysterious figure who had attempted to hide, but failed. The figure turned and fled at the sound of a man yelling stop. The man slammed his fist against the wall as he stopped to catch his breath before continuing the chase.

Suddenly several Machine Imperial Soldier Skeil Eins dropped down from the ceiling, while a few Machine Imperial Soldier Grannal Eins and Machine Imperial Soldier Wisel Eins came from either side of the wall. As they charged, the mysterious figure took out his green gun where it appeared to have blue glowing plasma within the clear casing. Aiming it and pulling the trigger, blue beams of light shot out and began to hit the Imperial Soldiers.

Although the machines tried to shoot the man, one by one they were taken out by his gun as they malfunctioned before exploding. As he continued to run, he kept shooting at the Machine Imperials while evading their lasers. In order to avoid the shots, he performed a few fast front flips in the air as well as jumping so high that he forced them to attack each other. He landed onto the ground with ease before continuing on his way.

The man, who was yelling for him to stop, noticed that he was getting closer to the Yusei gear. Picking up the pace, he tried to get to him in time; however, he was too late. The mysterious figure had already gotten to the machine by the time he arrived and had activated a device on his arm, which appeared to be a white metal looking machine. The room was suddenly bathed in a flash of white light, which forced the pursuer to shield his eyes or forever be blind. Once the flash dissipated, the man opened his eyes only to see that the other man was gone.

"Son of a bitch!" the man screamed before dropping to his knees and pounding the floor with his fist. "He got away," disgraced and ashamed, the man remained in his stance for a few minutes.

After calming down, he rose to his full height and walked over to a nearby computer, in hopes that he would be able to track down the figure's location. His fingers flew across the keyboard as he punched in the required passwords and whatnot. As he did this, streams of data and numbers flashed before the screen. A few minutes went by of this before the computer managed to locate the mysterious person. The man silently thanked that they were able to find people based on identifying their particles; which he had done with this man.

His eyes narrowed at the location. "So that's where you are," the man muttered to himself before shutting off the computer. He went towards one of the tables in the room and grabbed a similar device the figure had, and placed it onto his arm. The device looked like a metal ring though it had many buttons and lights on it. Going over to the Yusei gear, the man activated it and had begun to vanish.

"This isn't over yet," he mouthed before vanishing.


	2. Congratulations

Chapter 1: Congratulations

In the present:

Near the outskirts of London, within a Dueling-coliseum, a Riding-Duel was taking place. Spectators sat on the benches surrounding the events. Their cheers echoed throughout the stadium as they saw the match was close to reaching a conclusion.

Among the two Riding-Duelists, was one wearing a teal jumpsuit with black patterns mirroring each other from one side of the suit to the other. The upper half of the jumpsuit was covered in labels and logos of the companies being sponsored by said Riding-Duelist; the most noticeable one being across his chest with the acronym TEEAM. This Riding-Duelist is none other than Rua, now 21 years of age, Riding-Dueling on his blue D-Wheel for first place in a team tournament.

"Life Stream Dragon, attack his monster," said Rua. "LIFE'S BEAUTY HOWL!"

Life Stream Dragon (ATK: 2900)

The dragon charged up a yellow colored blast in its mouth, and then fired it, destroying the monster facing it.

Rua's LP: 2700. Opponent's LP: 900-0.

"Not bad," said Rua's opponent, being a good sport about it.

Rua couldn't help but grin a little behind his full-face visor. There was a time that all he would receive were insults and jokes from his opponents. Now, he was beginning to get compliments from them…well, more so than he used to. There were still some that would underestimate him when they got a look at his Deformers, thinking of the monsters as nothing more than toys.

"There you have it, the winner is Rua!" yelled the Mc. Rua had become extremely good over the years. People were actually giving him respect as a Duelist. Some of the younger, much younger, Duelists would ask for his autograph and some pointers on becoming better. The ladies seem to have start thinking that he is quite the catch as well; if what his sister had told him about her friends' reactions was true.

The crowd then started chanting his name and clapping. He pulled over to his team's pit-stop, and got off of his vehicle. After taking his helmet off and holding to his side, he wiped the sweat off of his forehead with the backside of his free hand.

"Good job Rua," said his two teammates, approaching him. Rua then bumped fists with both of them.

Crow had suggested for them to let Rua join their team in his place. Although they were against it at first, they eventually accepted him, and became good friends.

When the three teammates walked outside the stadium with their D-wheels besides them, a person walked up to Rua, giving him an invitation. He was wearing a professional green jacket, had goofy looking glasses as well as short white hair.

"What's this for?" said Rua.

"Because of your skills, you've been selected to participate in a pro-tournament known as the Fortune Tournament in Neo Domino City," said the professionalist.

"What?" said Rua.

"You have been scheduled to head on a plane in a few days," the person said, before taking his leave.

As the man left, Rua was still staring at the invitation in amazement. Neo Domino City…the place of his birth and rebirth, the place where he and his sister had many dangerous adventures, and the place he had hoped to return one day to along with his sister if only to see how it has grown since their departure.

"Neo Domino City…isn't that where you're from, Rua?" said one of the teammates, snapping Rua out of his thoughts.

"Yeah," said Rua, scanning the piece of paper over again. "It's been a while since I've been to a non-team tournament too."

The three men stared at the paper in thought, trying to decide what to do. While they may have just finished a recent team tournament, there were harder ones coming up not long from now. To say that Rua was so important to their team that they couldn't win a match without him would be an exaggeration. However, without him, they would be one man short, and it was nearly impossible to find a replacement at a time like this.

"You should go. You've earned it," said the other teammate, catching Rua's attention. "We'll be fine without you, so don't worry about it."

Rua nodded in appreciation and said goodbye as he rode off on his D-Wheel, heading home.

Meanwhile, Ruka had just gotten home, after looking for a job. Although Rua usually picked her up, due to him being scheduled in a Riding-Duel at this time, she had one of her friends drive her home instead. Which is just as well: that guy loves speeding up and making sharp turns.

"All of that walking is tiring," said Ruka plopping on the couch, exhausted. She had spent a good portion of the day going from one job opening to the next. She had graduated with flying colors. However, like most people in her position, that gave her more options than she could handle. She could get a number of high class jobs if she wanted to, but the problem was that she didn't know what she wanted to do. She had hoped that one of the job openings would instantly catch her eyes, but all she had gain from it was exhaustion.

She decided to see if Rua was still Dueling, by turning on the TV with the remote.

However, just as she was about to, her phone rang. Taking it out of her pocket, she answered.

"Hello," said Ruka.

"Hey Ruka, where are you right now?" Rua said.

"I'm at home. Why?" she said.

"You won't believe it. I got an invite to a tournament in Neo Domino City!" Rua said with excitement.

Even as a grown up, he still was energetic at times.

"Really?" she said, with surprise in her tone.

"I'll tell you the rest when I get home," said Rua.

"Okay, see you soon," said Ruka, and then hung up the phone after he said bye.

Sitting back down on the couch, she began to think back to her memories as a child.

"We sure had some great adventures," Ruka said out-loud. "I wish we could all be together again, even if only for a short time."

Little did she realize, that wish was going to become a reality.


	3. Dial on! Deformers VS XSabers!

Chapter 2: Dial on! Deformers VS X-Sabers!

Days have passed since Rua had received his invite to the Fortune Tournament. He had practically pleaded with Ruka to come with him: with great big eyes and everything. To his delight, she said yes; she wanted to see Neo Domino City once more too after all. They are both in their house at the moment, getting reading to leave and go to the airport.

"C'mon Ruka, we'll be late," Rua urged her, who was outside the bathroom door waiting impatiently.

Ruka still was brushing her teeth and doing her hair.

"Hold on," said Ruka, with exasperation. "I did wake up later than you."

"But," said Rua who sighed and decided to just go to the living room.

Sitting down on the green couch, he started reading a magazine while he waited.

Eventually, Ruka came out. "Okay, I'm ready now," said Ruka, looking like she washed her hair as it looked very smooth.

"Alright, let's go," Rua said, excited.

They then left as Rua opened the front door. After Ruka was outside, he closed it behind him, which made a creaking noise as it shut.

"I wonder if Yusei has actually become more...enthusiastic?" Ruka said, thinking about their friend.

"Maybe, who knows," Rua said, thoughtfully.

Truthfully he thought Yusei could tone down the overdone seriousness he gave off all the time. Rua knew Yusei had important things to do, but it wouldn't kill him to just relax once in a while.

"You did call him and tell him we were coming, right?" Ruka said

"Nope, he he," Rua said, smiling like a child.

"Rua," said Ruka, eyes lowering in disappointment as she stared at him.

"It's not like he would have answered anyways," said Rua. "He's always so busy now, trying to make the city, the world in fact, a better place. Besides, I think it's better that we surprise him anyways."

Ruka let out a sigh at her brother's reasoning, but realized that he had a point. Ever since Yusei had created the Fortune program, the guy had been busy with other projects. Ruka admired him for his commitment, but she wished he would take the time and answer his phone just so she could talk him into taking a break. Not like he would do so anyways.

After getting on Rua's D-wheel, he started the engine, put his feet on the accelerator peddle, and they headed off.

'...Yusei,' Rua thought, wondering how the Champ was doing.

Days later:

"Everybody listen!" Yelled the MC. "Today marks the first day of the Fortune Tournament Championship!"

"Yeahhhhh!" Yelled thousands of people in the crowd.

"But there can only be one champion!" the MC continued. "Who will it be! Across the world, many have gathered, including Jack Atlus, the World King!"

"Hey, Jack is in it!" one person in the Audience yelled in excitement.

Meanwhile, Rua was in the stadium hallway, heading to the competitors waiting room. He dropped Ruka off first, so she could get a spot in the stadium. As he walked through the quiet hallway, he realized it was not so quiet, as there were voices bickering that sounded oddly familiar.

'Could it be,' Rua thought, speeding up. He came closer to two men in the hallway. One with long orange hair spiked up and with criminal markers all over his face, while the other had short blond hair and was wearing earrings in both of his ears.

"Hey, what do you mean it was all you?" Crow fired. "You wouldn't be here if you didn't have a little help."

"What was that?" said Jack grabbing him by the collar. "I did that all on my own without anyone's help."

"And just who pushed you to be better!" Crow yelled back, referring to his rivalry with Yusei.

"You bastard!" Jack said with anger clear in his tone.

"You two never change," called a voice, breaking up their argument, and causing them to look in the direction of the voice.

"Rua!" Crow and Jack yelled out, surprised.

"It's great to see you!" said Crow, walking up to him before they exchanged fist bumps. "Taking care of the team?"

"You bet," said Rua, enthusiastically, and then focused his attention on Jack, who tried to look as if it was just typical seeing him, but Rua knew him better than that.

"Jack," said Rua, walking up to his former idle. "I've watched you on TV whenever I get the chance. You're still as great as always."

"Hmmph, I've seen you Duel too, and I must admit, you've improved as a Duelist," Jack said. That compliment almost made Rua beam with joy.

As they started talking more, Rua noticed someone walking by.

"Isn't that...yeah that's Harald and his two friends," Rua said.

"What, they're in the tournament too?" Crow said.

Jack on the other hand wasn't. It would be surprising if they weren't. After all, they wielded the legendary Polar Star Gods, and almost won fairly easily throughout the WRGP.

Rua walked up to them. "Hey guys," Rua greeted.

"Team 5D's," Harald uttered, in the same tone of his, but also surprised. He didn't remember Rua specifically, but he remembered that there was a little boy that was apart of Team 5D's. The fact that this young man, that looks so much like that boy from 9 years ago, was with Jack and Crow, made it obvious to Harald who he was.

"Well it looks like we ran into a familiar face," Brave said, still giving off that slight kickback nature.

"Hey, how's it been Brave?" Crow exclaimed, having walked up to them, and fist bumped.

"Things have been well. The children I've been taking care of are also doing just fine," said Brave.

"I should have guessed you guys would be here," said Dragan, who now noticed Jack.

"Dragan," said Jack, remembering their once bitter rivalry, and walking up to him.

Dragan, on the other hand, let out a grin similar to Jack's.

"If we meet as opponents, I'll win this time," said Dragan with pride in his tone.

"Hmph, I'll throw that right back at you, courtesy of Jack Atlus," said Jack, pointing his finger at him, but having a slight friendly smile.

Harald then used his Rune Eye, which was a blue Ash symbol, to see pass the right sleeves of Jack, Crow, and Rua. Jack had told them about the boy gaining a new Signer mark when they, the Signers, were on the Ark Cradle.

"It seems you no longer have your Signer abilities," Harald said.

"Yeah, after all of us but Yusei left this city, the Crimson Dragon removed our marks from us," said Crow,

"I see," said Harald.

Before anyone could speak again, the MC interrupted on the flat TV screen that was in the middle of the room, and at the top.

"It's time for the tournament to get under way!" the MC yelled, enthusiastically. "Here are the results."

The block results on the screen started to spin, then slowly revealed who was paired with whom. Rua had been paired against someone by the name of Dante in the first match.

"Good luck guys, let's stay alive so we can face each other," Rua said, as he and his two former Signer friends fist bumped.

"In any case, stay on your guard," said Jack. "The people here won't go down so easily."

After one last nod, Rua headed off.

Meanwhile, Ruka was in the stadium, having found a nice seat close to the arena. She wanted to make sure she got a good view up close; it wasn't often she got to see her "hero" Riding-Duel anymore, what with spending most of her time looking for a job and everything.

'Rua's up first,' Ruka thought, looking at the match results on the holographic screen in the arena above the dueling platform. As she glanced at the rest of match results, she became pleasantly surprised by who else was in the tournament. 'Maybe he'll finally get to Riding-Duel against Jack, just like he wanted'.

"Everybody listen!" yelled the MC. "The first round will now begin! In the first Duel, we have the high spirited Duelist, RUAAAAA!"

Rua shot out of the pit on his D-Wheel, riding to the starting line and stopping.

"Yeahhhh! Show us a real Duel!" one of the people in the crowd yelled excitedly.

In the audience, Ruka smiled. While It's true he still had ways to go before he could compare to the others, he was still pretty good and well known.

"And the Duelist who slashed his way through countless victories, DANTEEEE!" The MC yelled once more with Enthusiasm.

The Duelist shot out of the other pit, on what appeared to be a yellow D-wheel, with a design similar to Crows, but it had a sword picture on the right side.

The crowd once again yelled excited and pumped up.

After getting to the other start pad, Dante stopped, and looked at his opponent.

"Rua was it," Dante said. "These people seem to think you're something, so let's have a great match."

Rua gave a grin and a thumb up, though his opponent couldn't see his grin pass his visor, before focusing on the road in front of him.

"Speed World 2, set on!" the MC yelled.

The area now got somewhat purplish, as a barrier enveloped it.

"Remember that in a Riding-Duel, only Speed Spells can be used, Normal Spells take a back seat!" the MC reminded the audience, then spoke as the counters started going down. "Riding Duel! Acceleration!"

Rua shot out fast. "Oh my, Rua seems to be going faster!" the MC stated.

"Like hell I'm letting you get the first turn!" Dante said.

Dante then pushed a button on his D-Wheel and sped up, catching up to Rua. As they came around the corner, riding intensely, Dante managed to make it around first.

"Duel!" said both Dante and Rua.

(Dante LP: 4000: Rua LP: 4000)

"My Turn! Draw!" declared Dante as he drew the top card from his deck.

(Dante: LP 4,000 Rua: LP 4,000  
SC: 1/1  
Hand 6/5  
Deck 34/35)

"I summon X-Saber Galahad in attack mode!" said Dante, placing the card on the top part of the Duel Disk attached to the D-Wheel.

(X-Saber Galahad  
4 stars effect monster  
Earth attribute  
Warrior type  
ATK 1800 DEF 800)

Besides him, arose a reptilian warrior with green tribal markings on its face. It wore armor that was mixed in gold and bronze that would give off the idea that the reptilian warrior was a low ranking solider. In one of the creature's hands was a light green spear with a sapphire in the center of the head.

"Next, I play the quick-play Speed Spell-Accel Limiter," stated Dante as he placed the card in the underside of the Duel Disk. "With this, you will be unable to gain Speed Counters until your second turn passes."

Rua couldn't help but curse under his breath at the handicap that his opponent had just given himself.

"I play two cards face-down and end my turn," finished Dante before two holographic cards materialized behind his D-Wheel and then went transparent as though they were never there.

"My turn! Draw!" declared Rua, already getting psyched with the duel as he drew the top card from his deck.

(Dante: LP 4,000 Rua: LP 4,000  
SC: 2/1  
Hand 2/6  
Deck 34/34)

"I summon Deformer-Radio in attack mode!" announced Rua as he placed the card on the monster card-zone of his Duel Disk attached to his D-Wheel.

(Deformer-Radio  
4 stars effect monster  
Light attribute  
Thunder type  
ATK 1000 DEF 900)

Next to Rua's D-Wheel emerged a gray radio that began to shift and change. The lower half started to split apart and form legs, while on both sides of the upper half and the very top of the radio began to dislocate, shift down, and divide themselves in to arms. The very top now revealed a head with an antenna in the middle of it. On the robot's chest was a green light with numbers behind it, which one could assume was a radio station. Once the transformation was completed, the monster cried out for battle as it twirled its long earphone in both of its hands.

"When Radio's in attack mode, all deformer monsters on my field gain 800 attack points," explained Rua as Radio was surrounded by a glowing energy.

(Deformer-Radio: ATK 1000 DEF 900-ATK 1800 DEF 900)

'Let's see…our monsters are equal in attack power, so if we battle it would just end in a draw,' thought Rua, trying to think of his best option. 'However, if I just leave his monster there, then he's just going to use it for an advance or Synchro summon on his coming turn. I'll really be in trouble then. On the other hand, he has those two face-downs, but those could be bluffs. Oh well, Ridding-Duels wouldn't be any fun if there weren't some risk in them once in a while.'

"Deformer-Radio, go! EARPHONE SHOOT!" commanded Rua.

The robot leapt towards its opponents in a gliding manner, twirling the earphone in its hands while doing so. When the robot got close enough, it threw its weapon with great force at its foe, hanging on to it with only one hand now.

(X-Saber Galahad: ATK 1800 DEF 800-ATK 1300 DEF 800)

"What the...?" said Rua, bewildered why his opponent's monster weakened.

"When Galahad is attacked, he loses 500 attack points during the battle," explained Dante before grinning. "But that doesn't matter. Trap card open! At One With the Sword!"

The reptilian warrior's spear vanished, and in its place was a sword with an energy blade that the creature now grasped with both hands.

"This card can only be activated if the only monster I control is a face-up X-Saber monster. It becomes equipped to the monster and increases its attack power by 800," stated Dante.

(X-Saber Galahad: ATK 1300 DEF 800-ATK 2100 DEF 800)

The warrior then leapt at its opponent, and sliced through both the opposing weapon and its handler in a vertical slash.

(Dante: LP 4,000 Rua: LP 3,700  
SC: 2/1  
Hand 2/5  
Deck 34/34)

If it wasn't for his full-face visor, Rua would have felt the need to swipe away at the holographic smoke that was created from the demise of his monster.

"When an X-Saber monster equipped with At One With the Sword destroys one of my opponent's monsters by battle, I draw one card," explained Dante before drawing from the top of his deck.

With the battle now over, Galahad gained back the 500 attack points it had lost.

(X-Saber Galahad: ATK 2100 DEF 800-ATK 2600 DEF 800)

'Okay…maybe attacking wasn't such a good move on my part, but I know I can win this,' thought Rua, trying to think positively. 'Whatever his other face-down is, I'm sure my back-up plan can counter it.'

"I play two cards face-down and end my turn," said Rua before two holographic cards materialized behind his D-Wheel, and faded away like Dante's did earlier.

"My turn! Draw!" declared Dante drawing the first card from the top of his deck.

(Dante: LP 4,000 Rua: LP 3,700  
SC: 3/1  
Hand 4/3  
Deck 32/34)

"I summon XX-Saber Boggarknight in attack mode!" declared Dante, placing his card in the monster card-zone of the Duel Disk attached to his D-Wheel.

(XX-Saber Boggarknight  
4 stars effect monster  
Earth attribute  
Beast-Warrior type  
ATK 1900 DEF 1000)

On the other side of Dante's D-Wheel came a beast-like man wearing silver armor on his limbs with glowing blue linings across them, a helmet with horns that came out in such a way that you weren't sure if they were a part of the monster himself, and a red cape that fluttered as Dante continued to ride his D-Wheel.

"When Boggarknight is normal summoned to the field, I can special summon 1 level 4 or lower X-Saber monster from my hand," stated Dante before picking a card from his hand and playing it. "I special summon X-Saber Airbellun in attack mode!"

(X-Saber Airbellun  
3 stars Tuner monster  
Earth attribute  
Beast type  
ATK 1600 DEF 200)

On the same side that Galahad had arisen from emerged what looks to be a lion-human hybrid. It had flat-brown shoulder pads, black pants and a brown loincloth, and even copper plating on its chest. Held in the creature's hands were two shield-like gantlets with three blades coming out of both of them. The lion-human hybrid's yellow main blew backwards as the creature growled in a more dangerous manner than any real lion could create.

"Now I'll tune my level 4 XX-Saber Boggarknight with my level 3 Tuner X-Saber Airbellun," stated Dante before beginning to chant. "Let wanderers know despair and fright. Here comes the bull, ready to fight! Synchro summon! Slash to victory, X-Saber Urbellum!"

(X-Saber Urbellum  
7 stars Synchro/effect monster  
Earth attribute  
Warrior type  
ATK 2200 DEF 1300)

As the chant was being said, Airbellun dissimilated into three glowing green stars that each went around in a circle again and again until they blended so well that you couldn't tell they were stars anymore. Boggarknight started to become transparent, and four shining green stars could be seen within. Boggarknight leapt in the air and into the three rings that were once Airbellun. A great flash of light occurred, and a new monster took the place of the two.

This monster was a man dressed in a bandit-like manner. He wore tight black pants with three belts wrapped around his left thigh, and bandages around his right. There was a belt with an X symbol on the buckle across his waist. He had black gloves with metal covering the knuckle area. Bandages covered both of his elbows, but the right one also had a round metal guard with a spike on it. On his shoulders, he wore shoulder guards with a huge spike on each of them. The figure was wearing the skull of a dead bull on his head, and was caring two double edge swords and a tattered red cape on his back.

"When there are at least two X-Saber monsters on my field, I can special summon XX-Saber Faultroll from my hand. I'll summon him in attack mode!" continued Dante.

(XX-Saber Faultroll  
6 stars effect monster  
Earth attribute  
Warrior type  
ATK 2400 DEF 1800)

A man wearing red cybernetic armor and lenses appeared next to Dante's D-Wheel. In place of his hands and forearms were robotic versions, and held by them was a giant futuristic sword. The man also wore a red cape like many of the other Saber monsters.

"Once per turn, I can use Faultroll's effect to special summon one level 4 or lower X-Saber monster from my Graveyard," Dante slowly explained, so that he could allow his opponent to digest the information.

"Aww man," were the only words that Rua could think of, sensing where this was going. The only X-Saber monster in Dante's Graveyard was a Tuner monster, so that could only mean one thing.

"I special summon X-Saber Airbellun back onto the field," said Dante before his lion-human hybrid reappeared again. "Now I'll tune my level 6 XX-Saber Faultroll with my level 3 Tuner X-Saber Airbellun. The weak shall fall, the mighty shall rise! Synchro summon! Show your might, XX-Saber Gatmuz!"

(XX-Saber Gatmuz  
9 stars Synchro/effect monster  
Earth attribute  
Beast-Warrior type  
ATK 3100 DEF 2600)

Just like before when the chant was being said, Airbellun dissimilated into three glowing green stars that each went around in a circle again and again until they blended so well that you couldn't tell they were stars anymore. Faultroll went transparent, and six shining green stars could be seen within. Faultroll leapt in the air and into the three rings, and like before, a great flash of light occurred and a new monster came from it.

The figure was covered in full body metal armor that covered from head to toe. You couldn't see the face, and you could barely see the eyes. Held with one of this hulk's big hands was a giant sword that looked like it was missing a piece in the middle of the blade.

"Now, X-Saber Urbellum, attack him directly! CROSS SLASH!" commanded Dante as one of his monster sped towards Rua as though it could fly.

"Trap card open! Deformer Scramble! I can negate your attack and special summon one Deformer from my hand. I summon Deformer Staplen in defense mode!" Rua intervened by summoning purple stapler onto his side.

(Deformer Staplen  
4 star effect monster  
Earth attribute  
Machine type  
ATK 1400 DEF 1000)

"Reveal face-down! I activate the Quick-Play Speed Spell - Offering to the Dead!" Dante shouted. "When I have three or more Speed Counters, I can activate this card and destroy one face-up monster on the field. However, I will have to skip my next Draw Phase.

"Counter trap! Deformer Barrier!" Rua countered once more as he showed the last of his face-downs. "When one of my face-up Deformer monsters would be destroyed by a spell or trap card, I can negate that card and destroy it. Also, I add one Deformer card from my deck to my hand."

"Fine, in that case, I'll attack your monster with Galahad. And he gains 300 extra attack points when attacking a monster," explained Dante.

(X-Saber Galahad: ATK 2600 DEF 800-ATK 2900 DEF 800)

The reptilian warrior then leapt at the stapler and brought its sword straight down on it. However, the attack was deflected by some kind of invisible force-field, and the stapler remained unharmed.

"When Staplen's in defense mode, he can't be destroyed by battle once per turn," explained Rua to his confused adversary. "And when he is attacked, I can switch him to attack mode and change the battle positions of the monster that attacked him and of another one of my choosing. That means your Galahad and your Gatmuz are now in defense mode."

The staple opened up all the way and sprung out legs and arms, and though it had no face, one could tell how serious it was being. After the transformation, it shot staples from the top of itself towards two of the three opposing monsters, and switched them to defense mode.

"Very well then," Dante growled in annoyance. "In that case, I play Speed Spell-Curse of Destiny! When I have two or more Speed Counters, I can activate this card and choose one of my monsters and put two Cursed Counters on it. I'll select Gatmuz to be that monster. Next, I can remove one Curse Counter from Gatmuz and inflict damage equal to half of his attack points."

(Dante: LP 4,000 Rua: LP 2,150  
SC: 3/1  
Hand 0/3  
Deck 32/33)

Rua felt a strong shockwave going through him as he took major damage. His shoulders were tensed for but a moment as he momentarily lost balance with his D-Wheel. No one could see it through his full-face visor, but he was gritting his teeth. Though not in pain, but in determination.

"I end my turn," said Dante before a slight smirk appeared.

"My turn! Draw!" Rua said as he drew the top card from his deck.

(Dante: LP 4,000 Rua: LP 2,150  
SC: 4/1  
Hand 0/4  
Deck 32/32)

Rua looked at the cards in his hands as well as the ones that were on the field, trying to think of a way to put the Duel in his favor.

"You're practically past Speed World 2's safety line," Dante said, catching Rua's attention.

"Excuse me?" Rua said.

"I said you're practically past Speed World 2's safety line," Dante calmly explained. "You see, by my next turn, I can remove my leftover Curse Counter to inflict another 1550 points of damage to you. And if the next card I draw is a Speed Spell, then I can use Speed World 2's effect to inflict another 800 points of damage to you."

"Which is more than enough to decrease my Life Points to zero," muttered Rua with apprehension. His shoulders were once more tensing before he calmed himself down.

"Come on! Show me what you got!" said Dante.

"I summon Deformer-Mobaphon in attack mode!" shouted Rua with all his heart, knowing that what he was about to do would decide whether or not he would survive another round.

(Deformer-Mobaphon  
1 star effect monster  
Earth attribute  
Machine type  
ATK 100 DEF 100)

Hovering next to Rua's D-Wheel was a yellow cell-phone that began to shift and change. The bottom half with the dials on it started to separate into arms and legs until the only dials in the middle were the answer key, the hang up button, and the numbers 1-6. The top half with the screen split in half and formed shoulder pads. Behind the screen was a head with two antennas on where the ears would be.

"When Mobaphon's in attack mode, the dials on his chest light up. Whatever number the light lands on is the number of cards I get to pick up from my deck. And if there are any Deformer monsters among those cards, I can special summon one of them," explained Rua. "Go! Dial On!"

The numbers on Mobaphon's chest lit up at random. One moment it was on 2. The next was 6, then 3, then 2 again. There was no pattern to it. Eventually the light landed and stayed on 4, thus that was the number of cards Rua was allowed to see from the top of his deck.

"Alright, I summon Deformer Boardon in attack mode!" said Rua after he returned the other three cards back into his deck, which was automatically shuffled by the Duel Disk itself

(Deformer Boardon  
3 stars effect monster  
Earth attribute  
Machine type  
ATK 500 DEF 1800)

A rocket powered skateboard was hovering in the air above Rua's head. When it lifted itself up and stood upwards, it was revealed to have a robot body hiding on the underside of it. Two of the wheels were now its feet, while the other two were covering its elbows. The rocket power boosters were besides the wheels that were now its feet. The robot was a mix color of blue and white, and had one red eye beeping as though it was communicating through Morse code.

"I activate Speed Spell-Overboost, allowing me to gain four Speed Counters. Then during the End Phase, the number of Speed Counters I have will become one," said Rua as he inserted the card in the underside of his Duel Disk. "I hope you're ready, because I'm about to win this! I activate Speed World 2's effect! By removing 4 Speed Counters, I can inflict 800 points of damage to you for each Speed Spell in my hand."

Rua showed that he had two Speed Spells in his hand. One being Summon Speeder, while the other one's name was mostly covered up.

A lighting strike came from Rua's D-Wheel, and hit Dante dead on, causing the man to grit his teeth for a moment and struggle for control of his vehicle.

(Dante: LP 2,400 Rua: LP 2,150  
SC: 4/1  
Hand 0/2  
Deck 32/32)

"When Boardon's in attack mode, all Deformer monsters I control can attack directly," said Rua, just before beginning his Battle Phase. "Staplen, direct attack!"

The stapler robot shot staples from the head of itself at the opposing Riding-Duelist.

(Dante: LP 1,000 Rua: LP 2,150  
SC: 4/1  
Hand 0/2  
Deck 32/32)

"Boardon, attack!" said Rua.

The skateboard robot's rocket power boosters came to life, and sped the machine towards the opponent in a full out tackle.

(Dante: LP 500 Rua: LP 2,150  
SC: 4/1  
Hand 0/2  
Deck 32/32)

"Now Mobaphon, it's your turn. Go, direct attack!" said Rua, giving his last monster his command.

The mobile phone robot hovered towards the enemy before doing a flying kick on his back that barley felt like a tap.

(Dante: LP 400 Rua: LP 2,150  
SC: 4/1  
Hand 0/2  
Deck 32/32)

"I have to admit, you had me worried there," Dante complimented. "Using Overboost to bypass Accel Limiter, then using Speed World 2's effect. Not to mention, attacking me directly with all of your monsters. However, you shouldn't boast about winning like that if you can't back it up."

"Oh believe me, I've learned my lesson long ago about getting too cocky during a match," said Rua, grinning behind his helmet. "I activate the Speed Spell-Overboost!"

"Another one?" Dante cried in panic.

"Once more, I gain four Speed Counters. And like before, I'm going to use them for Speed World 2's effect," said Rua as he showed the Speed Spell-Summon Speeder in his hand once more.

Once more Dante was hit by a lighting attack coming from Rua's D-Wheel. Though this one was only half the size compared to the original, it did its job.

(Dante: LP 0 Rua: LP 2,150  
SC: 4/1  
Hand 0/2  
Deck 32/32)

Dante's D-wheel started to slow down as the auto-breaks were initiated, and steam was released from the engine before coming to a complete stop. He looked towards Rua as the young man rode up and stopped beside him.

"You got some skills there," said Dante, grinning. "I hope you do well in the next round. I hate to find out I lost by mere luck."

"You weren't easy. That's for sure," said Rua, grinning as well. "If the rest of the competition is going to be anything like you, then this is just going to get more exciting along the way."

With that, he revved up his engine and sped off out of the stadium, hearing the crowd roar his name in cheers.

After parking his vehicle in the garage connected to the stadium, Rua went back to the competitor waiting room. There, he found Jack and Crow watching the live fee of the Dueling arena, and walked up behind him.

"So what did you guys think?" said Rua.

"Not bad," said Crow. "You've come a long ways."

"You'll need to do better," said Jack, causing Rua to look right at him. "You were barely a step ahead of your opponent. I've faced Duelists that I had to keep three steps ahead of."

Rua understood that Jack wasn't trying to degrade him in anyway, but he couldn't help but feel disappointed at himself now. Jack was right; he needs to prepare better during his matches. Especially sense there are many strong opponents in this tournament. If his first opponent had been Harald, there was no doubt in his mind that he would have lost after his first turn: the man was able to predict almost all of Yusei's move after all.

"I'll keep that in mind, thank you," said Rua. "If you don't mind, I'm going to go and look for Ruka now. See ya."

Jack and Crow said their goodbyes as Rua walked out the room in search for his sister.

Back at the stadium, Ruka was starting to stand up. She was worried at first when Rua lost so much of his Life-Points. She knew what might have happened if he didn't deplete all 4,000 of his opponent's Life-Points to zero. However, against all odds, he managed to do it.

As she glanced around the isles to make sure there weren't too many people moving at once for her to get through, a figure in the stadium tower caught her eyes. The figure looked to be feminine with a red hair tied in a bun, and was wearing a white coat. Though Ruka couldn't see her face, she knew an old friend when she saw one. It seems that she's busy with other matters at the moment, so it would be best to get in touch with her later.

"Hey, Ruka," a voice called out from around the corner.

She turned her entire body in the direction of the voice to find her brother to be the source of it. She kept quiet as she walked over to him: the last time she had blurted out his name in a situation like this, girls were running and fanning all over him. That was something they both wanted to avoid again. It was times like that that made her wish women didn't find her brother so attractive.

"Not bad for my first day in the tournament if I do say so myself," said Rua with the one eye looking at her squinting in focus as they walked in the hallway towards the out side of the stadium.

"That was only round one onii-chan," said Ruka in a half teasing manner. "Round two is just going to be harder."

"Then I'll just have to work harder," said Rua, grinning.

The two continued to walk in the hallway and headed towards the garage. As much as they wanted to stay and see their friends Duels as well, they wanted to avoid the fan-girls even more.


	4. Reunion

Chapter 3: Reunion

Days have passed since the Fortune tournament had begun. The eight finalists are all that's left. Eight magnificent Duelists, all getting ready to Duel their hearts out this very day. Today, however, doesn't start at the tournament stadium. Today starts out with Rua riding his D-Wheel on the streets of Neo Domino City with Ruka hanging on for dear life as they pass building after building.

"Slow down!" said Ruka as her brother drove between two vehicles without slowing down one bit.

"I can't slow down now. We're running late as is," said Rua with his eyes still on the road.

"Even if we weren't running late, you still be driving this fast," muttered Ruka to herself.

"Hang on, we're almost there," said Rua, just before he started to accelerate faster and cause his sister to bury her face in his back more.

Once they have arrived at their destination, Rua stepped on the breaks and skid his D-Wheel in a parallel parking manner next to the sidewalk. Ruka then let go of the handholds on Rua's dark-blue jacket, got off of the vehicle, and took off the helmet that she had been wearing.

"I swear, sometimes I think you love riding your D-Wheel more than you love Dueling itself," said Ruka in exasperation.

"I'll admit it's fun, but there's no way my passion for Dueling would ever be replace by it," said Rua before getting off of his D-Wheel and taking his helmet off as well.

"Rua! Ruka!" said a feminine voice nearby.

"Aki," said the twins as they turned to the direction of the voice.

Right before their eyes was Aki Izayoi, a long-time friend from over 8 years ago, sitting at a table situated just outside Café La Geen waving one of her hands at them. She wasn't the only one there though. Crow Hogan, Jack Atlus, and even Yusei Fudo were sitting there with her. Every one of them had a smile on their face, which the siblings returned as they did a short sprint from Rua's vehicle to the table.

"I can't believe you're all here!" said Rua as he pulled a chair out and sat down, his sister doing likewise.

"It's nice to see you too, Rua," said Aki, hands now folded on the table.

"Sorry if we're a little late, Aki. We kind of lost track of time," said Ruka.

"It's no problem. You two are just in time," said Aki, her smile never leaving her. "You two, Jack, and Crow were all pretty easy to get in contact with. The Only one I had a hard time with was Yusei."

"How were you able to get in contact with us so easily anyways?" said Crow before taking a bite of his sandwich that he ordered not long ago.

"Well, as one of the head doctors on standby, I'm given every Duelists phone number that's in the tournament in case of an emergency or if I have to do a quick survey of them," said Aki.

"I thought I saw you in the stadium's tower," said Ruka. "But as a head doctor? That's amazing Aki! How did it happen?"

"Oh, I just got a call in Germany from Yeager asking me for my service, and I figured why not. I haven't seen the place in such a long time" said Aki as she made a quick glance at her surroundings.

"hmmph, I'm surprised that he's managed to do so well for all these years as Mayor," said Jack, taking a sip of his Blue-Eyes Mountain: a very expensive cup of coffee that happens to be the man's favorite.

"Excuse me," said a new feminine voice, catching everyone's attention.

The woman had short brown hair and big brown eyes. She was in a waitress outfit, and wearing a smile on her face. The face was familiar, they have seen her often enough working at the place, but the name never really stuck with any of the six people sitting at the table…well Jack might have memorized it after the amount of time he used to spend at the place. However, a simple look at the waitress's nametag will tell anyone that she goes by Stephanie.

"I'm sorry if I'm bothering you, but I noticed that there are more people here than there was earlier and I wanted to know if you wished to order anything," said Stephanie with a small smile on her face.

"I'll have a sandwich," said Ruka.

"And I'll have some Red-Eyes Storm," said Rua.

"One sandwich, and one Red-Eyes Storm coming right up," said Stephanie.

"Thank you," said Rua and Ruka, just before their waitress for the day left.

"What have you been up to lately, Ruka?" said Crow, turning to her as he took another bite of his sandwich.

"Well, I just graduated a few months ago, and am looking for job," said Ruka.

"That shouldn't be too hard for you. You have a great personality," said Crow, grinning. "I'm sure whatever job you apply for, you'll get it."

'That's the problem, I don't know what to go for,' thought Ruka, eye-brows slanting slightly in a depressed manner for a split second. No one seems to have noticed.

Time passed by as the gang chatted with one another. Rua and Ruka's orders came by sometime during one of the conversations, and they relished in it. Ruka took small bites of her sandwich, while Rua took small sips of his Red-Eyes Storm, a quite expensive tea, with his pinky sticking out as he held the cup with one hand. Tea was never his favorite drink, but he has grown accustomed to the taste over time and has found it relaxing at times.

"Rua, what happened back in your Riding-Duel yesterday?" said Yusei, causing the young man in question to choke on his drink for a moment before swallowing it down his throat.

This got everyone's attention. Crow shoved what was left of his meal in his mouth and chewed in seconds. Jack took smaller sips of his coffee than normal. Everyone was surprised by the subject at hand that Yusei decided to bring up. It's not as though they weren't curious themselves. After all, what happened in the matchup was not exactly normal. Well, it's not like they haven't seen it happen before, but they couldn't understand why it was happening again.

"I think I might have made a bad call on one of my moves, but-" said Rua, scratching his right cheek in thought before Yusei began to interrupt him.

"That's not what I meant," said Yusei. "I understand that you were going up against one of the Polar Star Gods, but I could have sworn that the impact that you received from Dragan's attack was real."

That was a mind boggler. Most of the fans assumed it was simply the backlash from the force of the hologram that happens from time to time. The gang, however, saw it in a different light. They were very familiar when the attacks of a Duel monster or other things in a Duel were real. When the force of Thor's hammer hit one of Rua's Deformers, Rua was practically thrown against the stadium's wall. Ruka had covered her mouth in shock when she saw her brother slam so hard that she was afraid that he may have broken his drawing arm on impact.

"Bollocks," said Rua with his eyes closed before opening them again. "I just lost control of my D-Wheel for a moment. Harald, Brave, Dragan, and their Polar Star Gods quit seeing the Signers, and anyone relating to them, as enemies after the WRGP. Why would they go all out like that in a simple tournament?"

It was possible. The stronger the monster's attack power was, then the greater force of backlash the opponent would receive. Red Demon's Dragon had high attack power as well; it always gave off a strong force when it attacked even when its attacks weren't real at the time.

Everyone stared in deep thought, including Ruka. After putting some more thought into it, they decided that perhaps they were only seeing things. After all, why attack anyone without the slightest bit of warning? Whether the attack was real or not though, that didn't stop Ruka from worrying about Rua getting hurt.

"I really thought I had him when I summoned Life Stream Dragon and prevented him from using Thor's damage inflicting effect," said Rua as he stared at his cup.

"Geez, don't start wallowing in the aftermath of your defeat again," said Ruka, looking at her twin in exasperation. "You did the best you could."

"I'm not wallowing, Ruka," said Rua, still staring at his cup of tea. "I'm just going over how the Duel played out in my head to see where I went wrong. There is a difference."

"Sounds like wallowing to me," Aki murmured in agreement with the younger girl as she cupped the side of her face.

"It is not!" said Rua, desperately as he finally took his eyes off his drink and on the girls talking to him. "If I can figure out what I did wrong, if anything, then I can work on making sure that doesn't happen again the next time I may have to face him."

"You've come a long ways, Rua," said Yusei, causing Rua to look in curiosity. "I remember when I first met you, you didn't take defeat this well."

"Well, Yusei, I was eleven with all due respect," said Rua, calmly sipping his tea. "And it's not like I threw a tantrum when I lost."

"Rua is something wrong?" said Crow.

"No, nothing's wrong Crow. I'm fine," said Rua as he sipped more of his tea. "What have you been up to anyways Yusei? What's been keeping you from communicating with the rest of us?"

All eyes were now on Yusei. Everyone waited in earnests for what he may say. Ever since the rest of them left the city, Yusei had become world renown for his Fortune program and other things he has shared with the world. He was definitely his father's son. He has been working on projects after projects to make the city better, so that his friends could see how much of a difference they have made for the better. However, with all of his work going on, they rarely get to speak with him anymore.

"I'm sorry, but that is classified," said Yusei, causing everyone to groan a bit.

"Come on Yusei. Can't you at least give us a hint?" said Rua.

"I'm sorry, but no one outside the work station is allowed to know about it," said Yusei.

Before anyone else could ask more, Jack finished his coffee and got up.

"Where are you headed off to?" said Crow, glancing at Jack.

"The matches are going to be setup within one hour," said Jack, walking towards his D-Wheel. "I'm going now before it's too late. I suggest you do the same if you don't want to be eliminated by default."

"Yeah, good point," said Crow as he got up from his chair with Aki soon following after.

"It was nice seeing everyone again," said Aki, waving her hand goodbye.

"Good luck in the rest of tournament you guys. I'll be rooting for you," said Rua.

"I guess I better be heading on my way as well," said Yusei, getting up as well.

Everyone except for the twins went towards their D-Wheels and rode off. Rua was still taking some small sips from his cup, which wasn't far from being empty. Ruka then got up from her seat with Rua looking at her in question.

"I think I'm going to take in the site for now. I'll meet up with you later," said Ruka, smiling. "And don't get into any trouble."

As he saw his sister walking away, Rua couldn't help but smile at her last statement. It's true that he may get ahead of himself at times, but his heart was always in the right place: something that his sister said not to change.

After he finished his drink, Rua decided to do like Ruka and explore the city some. He got on his D-Wheel and drove off, seeing so many changes to Neo Domino City. The buildings all looked so brand new.

Some time passed, and Rua was still in awe at the wonderment of the city that he once called home. He couldn't take his eyes off the beauty of it all: save perhaps three people in an alleyway, two of which were gaining up on one. This caused Rua to react by coming to a halt on his vehicle, so he could get a better look at what was going on. He ran towards the alleyway, seeing the three figures fighting in the shadow. However, the would-be victim seems to be doing alright.

The thugs that were assaulting the mysterious man are obviously out of their league. The man isn't just throwing random punches, trying to hit the opposing two. He knew exactly what he was doing. He was a step ahead of ever punch they threw, every, kick they swung, and even every cheap shot they tried to use. It would seem the guy didn't need a helping hand after all.

The thugs were soon down, the mysterious man turning around towards the deeper end of the alleyway. Rua was about to turn and leave as well, but then he saw something reflecting off of one of the other men's hands who were laying on the ground. The thug with the object in hand got up and made a dash for the figure. After getting a better look at the object, Rua could tell it was a knife. He thought about yelling to warn the man that was about to be stabbed, but that might alert the knife wielder as well and cause him to speed up the process of his attack.

Without giving it a second thought, Rua took his helmet that was in his hand and threw it at the assailant, hitting him right in the head. The thug dropped his knife upon impact and crouched down, rubbing his now sore head. The man who was about to be stabbed turned around when he heard the noise, and stared at the other man in annoyance.

"Are you about done now?" said the mysterious figure. Rua couldn't help but notice he sounded oddly familiar.

The thug picked up his friend and ran like there was no tomorrow, barely taking noticed of Rua as he ran past him.

"Hey, are you alright?" said Rua, venturing deeper in the alleyway.

"Yes, I'm fine. Thank you for the assist," said the man. Seriously, why did he sound so familiar to the young green haired man?

"What are you doing in a place like this?" said Rua as he made a gesture with his hands in reference to the current area. "People like them are often found trying to smuggle from other people in places like these."

"I have my reason. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to be on my way," said the man, but this time the light was illuminating enough on him to where his features could be made out.

Right before Rua's eyes was a man in his mid-twenties wearing what looked to be a crossover between a scientist robe and a soldier's uniform. His eyes were red, but they weren't hateful looking as most would expect. One of his most noticeable features was his big-spiked up-silver hair.

"No way, I know you," said Rua, catching the man's attention. "Pla-no…Aporia."

A/N: As you may or may not have noticed, Rua isn't the same die-hard Yusei fan that he once was (that's not to say he doesn't still like the guy though). We will be delving into that more so over time. Also, I figured that over the past eight years in London (I'm just going to assume that's where their parents moved them to), Rua picked up some habits, such as sticking a pinky out when drinking tea and using words like "bollocks".


	5. He appears, a secret revealed

Chapter 4: He appears, a secret revealed

In an alleyway of Neo Domino City, two men were staring hard at each other in disbelief, both for very different reasons. Rua could scarcely believe what, more like whom, he was seeing. Nine years…nine whole years since he saw any of the faces of Aporia, any of the man's embodiment of despairs. Lucciano: the psychotic boy that tried to kill him and take Ruka's Ancient Fairy Dragon from her. Jose: the old man with the speed and power to outrun a D-Wheel. Finally, the one that Rua was looking at, Placido: the man that released the army of Ghosts during the WRGP, had an obsession with defeating Yusei, and whom just beaten up two thugs mere moments ago. All three on them were essentially the same person. How he was able to separate into the three again, Rua wasn't sure.

The man with the big-spiked up-silver hair, whom Rua had just called Aporia, was left speechless. Who was this young green hair man in the dark-blue jacket that got himself involved in his fight? Given a brief observation, he did look familiar for some reason. Perhaps he was one of the Duelists in the tournament he's seen on TV and that is why he looks so familiar. However, why was this man acting like he knew him, like they've meant before? Why was he calling him Aporia?

"I can't believe you're here. What are-" said Rua, finally getting over his shock. However, a hand held up in the air stopped him from saying anything further.

"I'm sorry, but I'm afraid you have me confused with someone else," said the man as he shook his head left and right.

"Huh? What do you mean?" said Rua, scratching his head with his right hand. "I know you go by Placido, but you're basically still Aporia."

If the silver hair man was speechless before, then he was underlie bewildered now. He was looking as though the man before him was off his rocket. First calling him Aporia and now he was calling him by this Placido name? He couldn't help but wonder if the young man in the jacket actually believed he knew him, or if he was just messing around.

"Now it's clear to me that you are confused," said the man with one eye-brow quirk up. "I am not, nor have I ever been called, Placido."

"Are you serious?" said Rua, gaining a nod from the man in question. "Then you don't recognize me or remember anything about Team 5D's?"

"I know what I do about Team 5D's from what I've watched on TV and read in the newspaper," said the man, folding his arms over one another as he continued to stare hard. "I'll admit you look familiar, but I swear to you I have never met you before in my life."

"My name is Rua," said Rua, softly. "I was a little boy that was a part of 5D's pit-crew. I'm sorry; you just look so much like someone I once knew."

"Mistakes happen," said the man, giving an understanding nod before turning around to the deeper end of the alleyway. "Now, as I have said before, I have to be on my way."

As Rua continued to stare at the man, he couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. Sure, it wasn't like he was exactly friends with Aporia when they last met: in fact, the guy downright killed him one time. However, during Aporia's Duel against Z-one, Rua saw him as someone that wasn't so different from him and his friends after all. Perhaps under different circumstances, he could have become an ally and friend like Bruno had.

'I should have known better. We all saw him die and then get destroyed along with the Arc Cradle,' thought Rua as he continued to stare at the man's back as more and more distance was put between the two. 'He's not even wearing the infinity-patch on his eye. I guess he could be one of his ancestors.'

Just as he was about to turn and leave, something hit Rua like a house of bricks. The man only said he was never called Placido, but he never made any such defense towards the name Aporia. In fact, he seemed to have been taking his time to respond when Rua first called him Aporia. If that wasn't right, then why did he stare in silence for so long? Could it be that this was a different Aporia from a different future? If so, then why was he here? Humanity couldn't be on the brink of destruction again, could it? The Fortune program should have prevented the war with the Machine Emperors from ever happening. There was only one thing that came to mind when all of this processed through Rua's head.

"Please, if you are Aporia, if you are from the future then let us help you!" said Rua, his voice barley reaching the man's ear. He knew what he was saying was bizarre, but he just couldn't think of anything else to say. The last time Aporia, Z-one, and even Bruno came here, it was to destroy the Momentum along with Neo Domino City. Perhaps this time, they could think of a more humane solution to whatever the problem was.

Rua saw the man come to a complete stop. For a moment, he thought the man was going to say something. The next action the man took, however, involved a swift turn towards Rua with a gun aimed right at him. Before Rua could even comprehend what was going on, a beam was shot at him: turning his entire world black.

Just a few miles away from the incident, Ruka was walking along the sidewalk, still taking in the sites. Like her brother, she had become amazed by the changes and beauty of the city. There was so much to see, but unfortunately she didn't have enough time. The tournament would begin relatively soon, and there was no way that she or Rua were going to miss Jack's or Crow's Duel.

As she got closer to the corner of the sidewalk, she heard a voice cry out "Hey." When she stopped to glance behind herself, she saw Crow on his Blackwing coming closer. She couldn't help but wonder what he was doing in this part of the city when he had a match to get to. She continued to observe him riding towards her, until he turned and stopped right in front of her, parking his D-Wheel near the edge of the sidewalk.

"Hey, Ruka, I'm glad I caught you. Where's Rua?" said Crow with his hands still on the handles as he attempted to make eye contact with her. It's not easy when the visor on one's helmet was covering their eyes.

"He's probably taking in the sites like I am," said Ruka before giving a blank look in confusion. "What did you need? And shouldn't you be at the Fortune Tournament right now?"

"The tournament doesn't start for another fifteen minutes, and I'm only one mile away. Plenty of time to have a quick chat with a friend," said Crow as he waved one of his hands at her concern before placing it back on the handle it was on a second ago. "Anyways, I wanted to talk to Rua. But since he's not here, maybe you can answer some questions I have."

"Like what?" said Ruka, eyes blinking as she stood completely still.

"Well for starters, what's with Rua?" said Crow.

"What do you mean?" said Ruka, tilting her head a little.

"I mean he seemed to have been acting a little differently towards Yusei than what I would have expected from him," said Crow as he began to frown at the memory. "He sounded a little irritated when Yusei was talking to him about how much he's changed. And when I asked him if something was wrong, he said 'no' as though he wanted to avoid talking."

The two continued to stare at each other. Crow was patiently waiting for an answer from Ruka about her brother's behavior, while Ruka was trying to think about what to say. She knew why Rua was how he was earlier, but she thought it would be better if he were to let the others know his reasoning. However, if Crow didn't get some kind of answer, it would be on his mind until he got one.

"He's just going through that phase where you realize your ideal isn't perfect, and is a bit upset by it," said Ruka giving a small smile with her eyes downcast. It wasn't the entire truth, but hopefully it was enough to satisfied Crow's curiosity.

"Yeah, I've been there before," said Crow with a sad smile as he nodded his head in understanding. "It's always tough accepting something like that, even when you get older."

Crow soon had his face looking at the street before him. He started to rev-up his engine as he prepared to accelerate.

"I'm glad we had this talk, Ruka. I hope Rua will be able to deal with this realization before you guys leave the city," said Crow. "I would hate to see him leave feeling resentment towards one of his friends."

"I'm sure he will," said Ruka as she closed her eyes briefly and nodded her head in understanding. "Now you better get going. You only have seven minutes left, and you may be in the very first round for all we know."

Crow gave her a slight grin in appreciation before pressing on the accelerator and speeding off before her eyes.

After he was completely out of sight, Ruka let out a sigh in a mixture of relief and frustration. Relief, because Crow seemed good with the explanation she gave. Frustration, because before they left to meet up with everyone, Rua said that he wouldn't bring any attention to himself if he or Yusei spoke with each other. However, it wasn't as though she couldn't tell he tried. It was simply bad luck that Crow actually seemed to notice.

Ruka then felt a rush of wind behind her. She found the majority of her long green hair blown in front of her eyes. She took her hands and used them to gently bring her hair to the back of herself: flinging her hair just made a mess of things. It was strange though. The tree next to her was completely still, and she didn't see a vehicle driving by when she felt her hair being pushed forward. It was as if that breeze was for her.

'But what could that mean?' thought Ruka as she looked at her surroundings in slight fear. 'I hope nothing bad is going to happen.'

With that, she walked hastily back to Café La Geen. It had almost been an hour, so Rua should be there waiting for her.

That was not the case, however, as she waited there for nearly half an hour before calling him on her cell phone. There was no answer, so she waited another half hour before trying again. When it failed the second time, she started to worry a little. Rua wasn't one to turn off his cell phone for anything; not even during a match. He always left it on, so Ruka could call in-case of an emergency. Granted, emergencies were rare, but he didn't care. Could something have happened to her brother? Ruka couldn't help but be afraid that this was part of the omen from not long ago. She decided to wait one more hour before going back to the hotel that she and Rua were staying in.

Little did she know that her brother was in an unknown area, and was about to have a wake-up call.

Slowly, so very slowly, his eyes begin to open. His head was feeling a little distorted, and he grabbed at it to calm it down. When he opened his eyes completely, he found himself sitting in a chair in a small room with nothing uniquely noticeable about it. It took him a moment to remember what happened, and when he did, the very cause of his situation was standing right in front of him.

"You're awake, I see," said the man that Rua was absolutely sure now was Aporia.

"Where am I? What's going?" said Rua as he quickly got up from the chair he was sitting on. There were no chains or ropes wrapped around his limbs, so he was obviously free to move about as he pleased.

"Calm yourself," said the man as he raised one of his hands up in a calming gesture. "I knocked you out with my stun gun, and brought you here. I needed to make sure we had a place that we could talk at in private."

"Couldn't you have just asked me to come with you to a more private place, instead of shooting me in the face?" said Rua as though that should have been obvious.

"I wasn't sure if I could trust you," said the gray hair man as he gave Rua a once over. "You had guessed my name, and where I came from all without me telling you a thing about myself."

"Yeah, I guess that is pretty suspicious," said Rua as he began rubbing the back of his head in embarrassment with his right hand.

"While you were asleep, I did some research on you. I was surprised to realize that I was in the presence of one of the Signers," said Aporia before putting one of his hands out to shake with.

"Well, I'm not really a Signer anymore," said Rua as he took Aporia's hand in his own, and began moving both of their hands up and down. "Apparently, the Crimson Dragon figured the world didn't need us anymore."

"All the same, it is an honor to meet you," said Aporia after they let go of each other's hands.

Aporia feeling honored to meet Rua? The first time they met, when he was his embodiment of despair Lucciano, he acted as though Rua didn't concern him one bit. Although last time they first met, Rua wasn't a Signer. In any case, it was obvious that this was indeed a different Aporia than the one he knew.

"Now tell me," said Aporia, glaring at Rua intensely. "How did you know my name, and that I was from the future?"

"Oh, well you see, me and my friends met another you way back in the day, so I just figured you were him," said Rua. "He was trying to help change the future for the better. After that was accomplished, I should have figured you weren't exactly the same person."

"So this other me let people call him Placido as well?" said Aporia with one eye-brow raised.

"It was kind of a codename you went by," said Rua as he tapped both of his index fingers together a few times. It wasn't as though Rua was trying to keep anything from him, but he didn't think he knew how to explain everything to him that well. "Anyways, what are you doing here? Is the future in peril or something?"

"It might as well be," said Aporia, staring with such intensity that Rua felt like he was being seen through. "A man by the name of Malik came to the past like me. He wants to change the outcome of certain events, which is a direct violation to do so without permission. I followed him here in older to bring him back, but…he's proving to be more elusive than I had anticipated."

"Well, maybe I can help," said Rua, causing Aporia's gaze to return to normal as he looked at him in a questioning manner. "I can get the others, and we could-"

"No," said Aporia firmly, causing Rua to come to a complete stop. He then closed his eyes and took a short breath through his nose before opening his eyes again. "If all of them are aware and helping to find him, then that may change the time-line significantly. Not to mention, Malik may catch on to my involvement and make it even more difficult for me to get to him."

"Well then, what do you want me to do?" said Rua with a blank look.

"You do nothing," said Aporia, calmly as he turned his head to the side and stared in that direction. "The fact that you know who I am and that I'm here is risky enough. I only explained this much to you, because it would have been on your mind for the rest of your life. And that would have proven to be a distraction for you for things to come. I know, because that's how anyone would be if they saw what you saw," he then turned his head back to Rua. "So I'm asking that you keep this to yourself, and go about your business as usual. I can deal with this on my own."

"But we can help you. I can help you," said Rua pleadingly as he gestured to himself with one hand.

"I know you mean well, but please," said Aporia trying to get the young man before him to understand. "This isn't the first time someone has attempted this, and I have plenty of experience from before. Now please, just go through that door and be on your way."

Rua was now staring at Aporia hard. He couldn't understand why he couldn't just let them help him. Then again, this was different. The Aporia before him came from a desolated future, and was going to destroy all of Neo Domino City to save it from that fate. This Aporia, however, claims that he's merely here to find someone from his own time area and bring him back. After putting a little more thought into it, Rua was starting to see reason; that didn't mean he liked it though.

As he turned to the door that was gestured to earlier, he couldn't help but feel a little frustrated. When he began to walk closer to it, he started to think about everything he was just told. Before he had realized it, he had his hand on the doorknob and found himself outside leaning against a wall. What's strange is that there was no door behind him. That couldn't have all been a hallucination, could it?

He looked at the sky and began to realize how late it was. Oh man, how is he going to explain all of this to Ruka?

"What a day this has been," said Rua in exasperation as he face-palmed himself with his right hand before walking to his D-Wheel.

A/N's: We've noticed that there are more people putting this story under their favorites than there are people actually reviewing it. We're happy that you guy like it enough to put it in your favorites, but we would still like some feedback on your thoughts of the story every now and then. Constructive criticism is welcomed just as much as praise is.


	6. The unexpected: Rua behind bars?

Chapter 5: The unexpected: Rua behind bars?

The sun is out, the sky is clear, and the tournament semi-finals are underway. What more could a person ask for on a day like this…other than a little sister to quit worrying about her big brother's tardiness yesterday.

"Ruka, I told you, my cell-phone was low on energy," said Rua, once again giving the same explanation that he's been giving since last night when he returned to their hotel room.

"And I told you that shouldn't be possible," said Ruka, looking at her brother in worry. "It's connected to your D-Wheel. Your D-Wheel runs on the energy of Momentum: an endless energy supplied by everyone's heart. If your D-Wheel was working, then your cell-phone should have been working too."

This has been going on since they woke up. Ruka would question him, and he would make up an excused. The idea that he purposely ignored her phone calls never once crossed her mind; she knows Rua better than that. However, she couldn't figure out what prevented him from answering, and why he seemed to be dodging the question.

'What am I suppose to do?' thought Rua in frustration. 'Hey Ruka, you'll never guess who I met. It was Aporia from another future, and he said I wasn't allowed to tell you or anyone about him and that I should keep out of his way. Oh, did I mention that he shot me in the face before he told me all this?'

If that wasn't annoying enough, there was the fact that he had no idea where he was at the time when Aporia spoke to him about all of this. He had contemplated the idea that it was all just a dream that had occurred when he passed out. After all, he found himself leaning against a wall in the same alleyway as before with no doors nearby that he possibly could have went through. However, it felt too vivid to have been a dream.

"Look," said Rua with a sigh. "I don't know what happened. Maybe there was some interference where I was at. Maybe one of the connections was slightly loose. Either way, I'm sorry for not getting there sooner."

As Ruka looked at the side of her twin, she could tell that something was bothering him. She would ask what's wrong, but she somehow got the feeling that she wouldn't get an answer. With that in mind, she just wore a flaccid smile on her face to show him not to worry.

"Come on," said Ruka. "The first match of the day is about to begin, and I know you don't want to miss anything like you did yesterday."

Rua relaxed on the couch with his sister leaning against him as the MC on TV started talking in his microphone over the large crowd in the stadium that was being filmed live. The MC first gave a recap of the previous day's Duels. Both Rua and Ruka were a little shock to hear that Crow had been eliminated, but Harald is one devastating opponent. Jack had once again defeated one of his opponents, and Dragan had managed to overpower Brave in the end. Two Polar Star Gods fighting it out was something that Rua definitely wished he had seen.

Not long after the semi-finals had ended, Ruka found herself behind Rua on his D-Wheel, riding the streets of Neo Domino City. He rode a bit slower this time, which Ruka was no doubt grateful for. They weren't exactly sure where they would be going, but they just felt like they needed to be out for awhile.

The transmitter to Rua's D-Wheel started to ring, and he turned it on. The screen came to life, but all that appeared was a person's silhouette.

"Enjoy the ride," the person, using a voice scrambler, chuckled before they hung up. Ruka stared over her brother's shoulder at the now blank screen as he too stared at it. Before either of the two could question who that was and what they were talking about, their ride started speeding up rather quickly.

"AHHHHH! RUA! SLOW DOWN!" said Ruka, hanging on tighter than ever on the handholds of Rua's jacket as she pressed herself against his back.

"IT'S NOT ME!" said Rua as he pulled on the breaks with no effect. He tried to steer to force his vehicle into a halt, but he apparently had no power over that either.

Every person that they passed by barely got a chance to make out the blue blur that was Rua's D-Wheel. They were, however, able to make out the screams that traveled with it; both of which were ones of panic. Whenever they would unwillingly cut off another driver, curse remarks would follow after them.

Eventually, a policeman riding a D-Wheel was on the chase. He was just a few feet from the runaway vehicle, and catching up.

"You driving the blue D-Wheel," said the officer, driving closer to Rua and Ruka. "Pull over now."

"I'm sorry, but I can't!" said Rua over the cries of his sister saying to stop.

"If you do not pull over right now, then I will be force to engage you in a Riding-Duel," said the policeman, now driving right next to them. "This is your last warning."

Normally Rua would have loved to Riding-Dueled against someone, but to be force into a Riding-Duel by an officer of the law meant going to jail if you lost. However, if it meant being able to stop and save the two of them from the wild ride, then who was he to complain?

"Okay, if that's the way you want it," said the policeman, bringing his finger closer to the button of his pursuit vehicle in order to start the Riding-Duel. "Speed World 2, set-ahh-"

Unfortunately, Rua's D-Wheel rammed into the officer's sideways. All three felt the impact, each gaining a tighter grip with their hands. Before the policeman could say anything, he was once more being attacked by the D-Wheel in question. Anyone watching would most likely think that the young man and woman riding together were doing it out of enjoyment. Unknown to them, however, the driver was not in control at all.

"Ahhh, I'm sorry," said Rua as his D-Wheel kept hitting the officer's over and over again. "It's not me, I swear!"

"Just let go of the accelerator!" said Ruka, desperately as she shook from fear.

"I already tried that," said Rua, once more feeling the impact of the two vehicles bumping into each other. "Nothing's working!"

"Fine!" seethed the policeman. "You're not the only one that knows how to play rough!"

With that, the officer himself began taking the offense approach. Rua soon found himself being pressed hard against the edge of the bridge that they were now on as Ruka's screams grew louder, for they were now the ones taking the hits.

"Hey, stop it!" said Rua, feeling Ruka burying her head into his back more as though that would keep her safe. Rua understood what it may look like to the officer, but he wasn't riding alone. "I have a passenger here for crying out loud!"

"Just pull over, and we can end this," said the officer, trying to calm down and act like a professional again. "Nobody has to get hurt anymore than they already have over your joyride!"

"I told you, it's not me!" exasperated Rua.

They were soon off the bridge, and riding near a park. Pretty soon, they were driving IN the park. People were scattering away from the two D-Wheels as quickly as possible, and tire tracks were being left deep in ground. Eventually, after so many twists and turns that lead out of the park, they were headed straight into a wall.

He wasn't sure what happened, but for some reason Rua's D-Wheel skidded to a complete halt all on its own. Rua couldn't believe what just happened, and Ruka was shaking too much to open her eyes or even realize they've stopped. The policeman soon parked some feet away from them, got off his D-Wheel, and walked towards them.

"You need to come with me right now, sir," said the policeman, firmly. "You too, miss."

They spent the next four hours in jail…well, technically only Rua was put behind bars: they couldn't hold Ruka accountable for anything. They explained what happened, and the police looked to see if their story checked out. However, it wasn't looking good.

"I'm telling you, somebody called on my D-Wheel. And no, I don't know who it was," said Rua as he was being given a questioning look by the same officer that chased him down. "They said to 'Enjoy the ride' and my D-Wheel started acting up all on its own."

"I'm sure it did," said the policeman, sarcastically. He now had his helmet off, showing brown eyes and blue hair that looked pretty ruffle. "Only problem is that we checked your D-Wheel for any possible devices that may be capable of what you said, and found nothing."

"Please, Rua may like to ride fast, but he would never drive so recklessly," said Ruka, standing outside the jail cell Rua was in.

"His record says differently," said the policeman. "According to them, he's found to be speeding quite often."

"Oh yeah, maybe by two to three miles more," said Rua, folding his arms in annoyance. "Look, all of those other times I was running late for either school, a tournament, or picking my sister up. I even explained it to the officers that pulled me over, and paid for any tickets they gave me."

"All the same, there's nothing to show that you weren't in control of what happened back there," said the policeman, staring hard.

Before anyone could say anything else, the doors opened to reveal a familiar face. From the other side of the doors walked in a man in a simple black jacket over a grey shirt. His hair was black with yellow streaks running on the sides of its spiked up style. The man appearance was a surprise to all.

"Mr. Fudo, what brings you here?" said the policeman.

"Ushio called and told me what happened, Takuya" said Yusei, hands in his pocket as he walked closer. "I figured I had to see it for myself."

"Yuesi…" said Ruka quietly as she watched Yusei come closer to her brother's cell before stopping two feet away from it. She couldn't help but notice that Rua was trying to avoid the man's gaze, but she knew it wasn't out of shame.

"Rua, what happened?" said Yusei in all seriousness. "Ushio said you were found speeding and endangering lives."

"And I told them that's not what happened," said Rua, staring at the man's neck as opposed to his eyes. "Somebody, somehow, took control of my D-Wheel as I was riding it."

"It's true, Yusei," said Ruka with one of her hands pressed against her chest as if to show how honest she's being. "There was a call on Rua's D-Wheel, we couldn't see the person's face, and then everything just started getting out of control."

"We checked the D-Wheel, Mr. Fudo," said Takuya, standing firmly as Yusei turned his attention to him. "There was nothing on it or in it that could have done what they're saying. And as for their mysterious caller, there are no records of them receiving any calls anywhere near the time of the event."

The room was soon silent. No one said a word, and everyone barely made any movement. Takuya was now leaning on a table behind him with both of his hands. Ruka was standing off to the side, staring at both Yusei and Rua. Yusei was trying to stare hard into Rua's eyes, but was finding difficulty in it, for Rua was still purposely avoiding his gaze.

"Rua," said Yusei after sighing. "If there's anything else you know, please say so. I can't help you if you don't say something else."

"I don't know anything else," said Rua, sharply as he closed his eyes briefly before opening them again. "What makes you think that I do?"

"I'm not trying to accuse you of anything. I'm just trying to know what you know," said Yusei, never losing his posture. "Why are you being this way? This isn't like you."

"And just how would you know?" said Rua, eyes beginning to glare. "We've barely talked in the last eight years. You can't expect me to be the same boy that left all those years ago. And even if I was still that same boy, you would be about as much help to me now as you were back then."

"What's that suppose to mean?" said Yusei.

"Nothing, forget it, I'm sorry I even said anything," said Rua, now glancing to his side. "Could you give Ruka a ride? I rather she didn't walk or take a bus anywhere right now, what with everything that has happened."

Yusei gave a nod in agreement, and then walked away as he motioned for Ruka to follow. Ruka's eyes shined from the light as she stared at her twin, silently asking if he would be okay. The answer she received came in the form of a small grin. That grin, though not enough to put her at ease, was enough to convince her to go and come back tomorrow. Rua soon found himself alone with the blue hair policeman standing on the other side of the jail cell.

"Didn't I meet you in the Satellite once as a boy?" said Rua, giving in to the boredom of the silence.

"Yup," said Takuya, simply. It remained quiet between the two after that.

Meanwhile, outside the police station, Ruka and Yusei were entering a black car. After they were seated and buckled up, Yusei took the wheel and headed for the hotel Ruka was staying at. It was mostly quiet as they drove. Yusei's eyes were on the road before him, and Ruka was staring out her window, but it was obvious that both of their minds were somewhere else. All of a sudden, there was a ring from the car's phone. Yusei then picked up the phone and balanced it between his shoulder-blade and head.

"Hello," said Yusei, never taking his eyes off the road. However, he gave a quick glance at the phone when he heard the voice on the other line. "Malik? What are you calling for?"

Though Ruka wasn't one to eavesdrop, it was kind of hard to ignore a conversation that was taking place right next to you. She didn't know who this Malik person was, but by the tone in Yusei voice, he sounded important.

"What do you mean the cells in the police station are getting overcrowded?" said Yusei, causing Ruka to quickly turn her head towards him. It was clear by the look on Yusei's face that he wasn't likely the sound of what was going on, and that made Ruka worry. "But they can't just move them to a prison holding cell!"

Now Ruka was scared. What if Rua would be sent there along with others? What if the guards there forget that he's only there because of there being limited space at the police station, and start being too rough on him? From what she's heard, they're not as bad as Public Security Maintenance Bureau was, but still.

"Can you at least tell me who will be sent there?" said Yusei. Ruka had practically held her breath when she heard the question. "I have a friend that is only supposed to be held overnight, and I want to make sure he isn't one of the selectives."

Ruka's eyes were a mixer of hope and despair as she listened more and more. Yusei was doing his best to keep Rua out of prison, but with his eyes narrowing so much, it would seem it was a losing battle.

"I understand the problem, and I understand that you need the other members of the assembly to agree to it, but…" said Yusei, fists tightening around the steering wheel as he made a right turn. "Very well then. I'll give you my agreement to proceed with it," he then hung up.

"Yusei?" said Ruka with worry in her tone as she looked at him in fear. "Is Rua going to be okay?"

"Rua will be fine," said Yusei figuring that Ruka had listened in and understood what was going on. "He'll be out by tomorrow."

The rest of the ride to the hotel Ruka was staying at was filled with silence, and by the time they reached their destination, Ruka gave a quick goodbye and headed towards her hotel room.

Five hours after the call took place, Rua found himself in another location with bars sealing him off. When he heard what was going on, he was very annoyed. Not just because of the quick relocation, but because of everything else that has happened since the previous day as well.

'That caller…could that have been Malik?' thought Rua, sitting down on his cell's bed with his head settling in his hands. 'Nah, what good would getting me put away for one night do?'

A/N: we're sure most of you are thinking that Rua would never act like that towards Yusei, but his opinion from when he was 13 is bound to change at the age of 21. We are not making Rua this way for no reason, and he does not hate Yusei (No, it's not an act). I kind of figured that Yusei may become an even more important member of the city, such as an assembly member. It may look like that they had Rua moved pretty quickly, but people do expect the future to be more efficient anyways.


	7. Escape: The terrifying facility

Chapter 6: Escape: The terrifying facility

Late into the night of Neo Domino City, over half of the city was asleep. The rest were either working hard to finish a work of some kind, while others just couldn't find anyways to relax themselves to dreamland. In a prison holding cell, Rua was laying wide awake with his hands behind his head, staring at the ceiling in thought.

'Just who was it that called on my D-Wheel?' thought Rua. 'I couldn't see their face. That voice scrambler made it impossible to tell if it was a man or woman that called."

He has been thinking of nothing else for the past half hour. He had tried to think about any enemies that he and his sister has, but couldn't think of any. He was already eliminated from the Fortune tournament, so it couldn't have been a rival competitor. Though he does meet sore losers from time to time, but they normally would have challenged him to a rematch. Every now and then, his mind would drift to the idea that it had been Malik, but that was easily brushed aside as soon as he thought it. He wasn't helping Aporia in his search for the fugitive, so there's no reason to go through this trouble putting Rua here.

'Besides, it would have made more sense to go after Yusei if that were the case,' thought Rua as he switched to sitting down, and rolling his shoulders to loosen them up. 'The guy is the world king, even if Jack is carrying that title around. He saved Neo Domino City by beating Z-one, created the Fortune program, and he has this way about him that just reaches a person's heart,' Rua then let out a brief sigh. 'How does he do that anyways?'

As Rua's thoughts started to drift more and more towards Yusei, he turned his head to his side with his eyes downcast at the corner of his cell.

"I shouldn't have snapped like that," whispered Rua with a tinge of regret in his voice. "He was only trying to help. So what if his advice was never that good and he acted like he knew so much about me after only one Duel with me back when I was a kid? The point is that he tried," Rua let out another sigh before facing his head forward. "I should apologize when I get out."

Pretty soon, he started to hear footsteps at the other end of the hallway; most likely just one of the guards patrolling the section. This was more evident when Rua heard the clanging of bars being hit by something, which was no doubt a baton considering prisoners weren't allowed to have anything in their cells other than a bed. Heck, they weren't even allowed to keep their deck.

Speaking of decks, he was really frustrated that they had to confiscate his from him. He had tried talking the police into letting his sister hold onto it for him, but they were afraid that she may sneak the deck back to her brother late into the night. It's obvious that these people don't realize that a Duelist's deck is their soul, or perhaps they do know this and just get a kick out of seeing them suffer.

"I wonder if this is how every Duelist feels on their first night," grumbled Rua as he settled his head in his hands. "What do they expect to happen if I had my deck? That I would summon a monster and break out of here?"

While it was true that there wasn't any reason to suspect Rua of such a feat, there were Duelists incarcerated in this very prison that are known to achieve such a task. These Duelists were called Psychic Duelist, and they could be very dangerous if they managed to get their hands on a card. Rua had both seen and experienced their power when he was just eleven years old.

'I guess I can't blame them for being careful. You never know who might be one,' thought Rua before his face turned into a scowl as he remembered a Psychic Duelist in particular. 'If only I was able to do what I can now back then, Divine would have regretted trying to force Ruka to join through me.'

Another, much louder, clanging noise was heard from the other end of the hallway. Perhaps he was hearing things, but Rua could have sworn that he heard a grunt amongst the noise. It was probably just one of the inmates getting annoyed by the sounds being made.

The young man's mind soon thought of his sister. Was she okay? Did she make it back to the hotel alright? Was anyone following her? Was she at risk of being in any sort of danger at all? All sorts of things like this were filling his head at the moment, and with good reason. It wasn't often that someone manipulated his D-Wheel and put him and his precious person in danger.

'My precious person…those words have meant much more to me for so long now. More than anyone will ever know,' thought Rua as his eyes briefly stared up at the ceiling again before looking across from himself once more. 'No time to think about that now. There are more important things I should be thinking about.'

Rua stretched his arms up as he let out a soft yawn. He then pushed himself off the bed, and looked at the hallway on the other side of his cell. Call him paranoid, say he's been watching too much TV, but Rua couldn't help but think that something big was going on. After five to ten minutes of waiting, he let out a sigh. Perhaps he will be let out sometime tomorrow without anything happening after all.

BOOM!

A giant blast soon shattered that hope. Red alarms were blaring all across the prison, sirens were screeching loudly, and prison guards were running up and down every area of the whole building.

Rua looked around in panic, not sure what was going on. Did someone escaped? Was someone trying to blow the place up? What was it? He was soon answered when he saw his own cell door open as well as many others. All at once, they each made a slamming sound as they whooshed open.

Over the sounds of the sirens, and the running footsteps of the guards, Rua could hear some loud cheering from the criminals that now have their chance to get out of this place. Not to mention a few that wanted to rough the place up along the way. Soon the halls were filled with even more stepping sounds, along with a few that felt more like stomping, as the criminals were now amongst the guards.

Teeth and fist both clenched, eyes narrowing as they twitched ever so often, and sweat threatening to run down the forehead in anxiety. These were all of the things Rua's body was doing as he stood in his cell and listened to all the running, hitting, and yelling just outside. He has seen enough TV shows and movies to understand that the chaos going on outside was a riot. He was just now debating whether if he should stay in his cell and hope that one of the much bigger inmates don't feel like coming in and rough him up for the fun of it, or if he should sprint his way to a safer location: preferably one with a door that can shut. True, the second option also puts him at risk of being electrocuted by the guards, but they probably have their hands full with everyone else.

"Hello little man. You and me are going to have some fun," called out a deep masculine voice. Rua snapped out of his thoughts as he now saw a man almost twice his size wearing a torn up purple vest grinning a nasty grin at him. This obviously meant that option two was his only choice now.

Standing firmly in the cell, Rua put his arms up in front of his head in a defensive position. The purple-vest-wearing man came running towards him with a fist following behind. However, Rua also rushed towards his offender, who still had his fist behind his head, and gave him a quick one-two to the face. The assault didn't knock the inmate down, but merely made him stumble as he clutched his face in pain. This was enough to give Rua time to run past the criminal and into the hallway where the riot was within range.

"Good thing that guy milked his attack, or else I might not have been able to get a good hit in," whispered Rua before gazing at the mash of police force battling the criminals, many of which actually had Markers on their faces. "Okay…I just got to run pass everyone, avoid getting into any fights or electrocuted, and find a safe place to hide until this all blows over."

As he continued to look at the riot in front of him, however, he couldn't help but feel nervous. Despite that, he was left with no other option. Someone had already tried to attack him in his own cell, so there was no reason no one else would. Better to run through the crowd of people fighting each other with the chance of not getting hit by them, then to wait for the next big guy to come around looking for him and be at a high risk of getting into a dangerous fight. With that settled, Rua ran towards the battling police force and inmates. It wasn't like he was a great boxer or anything of the likes that could hold his ground indefinitely after all.

Run and dodge, run and dodge; that's all he had to do. So far, he has been able to keep it up, but there have been a few close calls with an electric baton or two. With the halls so crowded and filled with officers as well though, it made using the electric feature of the weapon much harder.

Rua was almost to the other end of the hallway. There was a solid steel-looking door with perhaps copper coating on it, and a small sliding door at the center of the top of it to peek through. It was no doubt one of the cells used for the more dangerous criminals, but chances are that someone like that has already flown the coop…right? In any case, the door was cracked open, so that meant a chance for a safe-zone.

As Rua was almost within reach of the door, he couldn't help but notice that the criminals almost outnumbered the guards. If it wasn't for the fact that a handful of the inmates were fighting amongst themselves, the guards may just have gotten overpowered.

'Weird,' thought Rua, both of his hands now on the door, getting ready to open it for him to slip through. 'I always thought that when a riot breaks out in a prison, the guards would throw either teargas or shoot the inmates.'

No sooner had he thought that did he hear the sound of a bang, followed by the sound of a body falling to the floor. He should have just ignored it and went in the other side of the room, but fear and curiosity got the best of him and made him turn around. Amongst the still fighting criminals and guards was one lone inmate laying face-down, blood pouring out of his head.

Rua stood there, petrified by the site before him. Not of the now dead man, but of the people surrounding the corpse. No one else had given it-him a second glance after he keeled over. In fact, the criminals were still brawling amongst themselves and the guards as though the guards didn't have some sort of advantage with their guns. How everyone could just keep on fighting after something like that so easily, Rua couldn't understand. He was no coward, just appalled that something like this was so easily overlooked by everyone, including those that are the closest to the dead body. This wasn't a war-zone for crying out loud!

More lasers were fired from the guns; more inmates fell over dead or in pain. The cries of the wounded brought Rua back into the real world. He had to get out of there before one of those lasers hit him as well! He turned back towards the door, opened it, and then closed it as he slipped in to the other side. Safe at last…or so he thought.

"Tell me were it is!" said a male's voice, followed by the sound of another man grunting after being hit.

Rua turned away from the door, and saw a man in uniform beating on an inmate that didn't look like he was putting up a fight. This didn't look right at all. Why was a police officer interrogating someone when there was a huge riot going on just outside?

"Hey! Knock it off!" said Rua, seeing the officer about to strike the inmate that now had his arms in front of his head for defense. The officer, with his eyes scowling, halted and turned his head towards Rua. The inmate kept his arms up, but gave himself a little peephole to see through. "Can't you see he's not fighting back?! And shouldn't you be out there, help stopping that riot?!"

"Mind your own business!" said the officer in an annoyed manner. "I have more important things to do than to help stop some small riot."

"Some small riot?" said Rua with a lace of irritation to his voice, his fist tightening ever so slightly. "People are getting mangled and killed out there! And you're in here attacking the one inmate that's not fighting back!"

"I said to mind your own business!" said the officer, now giving Rua a murderess glare. "The only ones that I'm hearing getting killed out there are the waste of life, and what do I care about them?" the police officer gave a quick glance at the inmate that was still holding his arms up in a defensive manner. "Now either let me work in peace or…," the man in uniform now took out a blaster gun that was hidden under his shirt, and pointed it at Rua. "There will be one more to add to the body count."

Rua glared straight at the gun; something told him this wasn't set on stun like Aporia's was. If there wasn't something off about what was going on before, then there was definitely something wrong with this picture now. What kind of officer ignores a riot taking place just outside the room he's in, just to beat-up one inmate out of the whole joint? An inmate who still wasn't throwing any counterattacks at his assailant, despite the obvious pain one could tell from his grunts every time he was hit.

Rua wasn't sure what to do. He wanted to stop what was happening before him, but he wanted to avoid getting himself and the inmate killed as much as possible when doing it. He had died once in his young life, and he was sure the other guy would not be thankful if they both roundup dead. He could try to rush the officer, but chances were that gun would fire at him before he got close enough…even if the fellow holding it was paying more attention to the man he was 'interrogating'.

'If only there was something nearby to throw hard enough at him,' thought Rua, searching the area around him, only to find nothing. Suddenly, an idea came to him. 'It wouldn't be any more outrageous than everything else I've done in my life so far.'

With that, the young man took off his dark-blue jacket, and threw it at the officer's face. It landed on the target's head, covering it up. The force behind that throw surprisingly made him stumble back a few, giving Rua enough time to tackle the guy to the ground. This thankfully resulted in the gun flying out of the man's hand and sliding over across one of the corners of the room.

"Boy, get off now! You don't know what you're doing!" cried out what was assumed to be the inmate's voice.

Rua lifted his head up in astonishment. He had heard a voice just like that ten years ago. It couldn't possibly be the same man though, could it? Looking at the man's face, which was now in view with his arms down, there was no doubt it was who Rua thought it was. The same bald head, the same tan skinned, but the eyes were different. The eyes no longer had that undead look to them; most likely because he was no longer the undead.

"Demak?! What are you doing here!?" said Rua in mixture of fear and anger as he stared at the man above him.

The former Dark Signer looked down at the green haired lad in confusion as if he was trying to recognize him. The expression, however, changed as his brow became sterner as he continued to watch the two men struggle on the ground.

"Listen to me! Get out of this room now before it's too late!" said Demak with fear in his voice.

Rua's fear and anger at seeing the man that once held the mark of the monkey on his right arm was immediately changed to curiosity. What was he so afraid of? The man who was just beating on him is being held down by Rua, and they are the only three people in the room.

Before he got a chance to ask Demak what he meant, Rua was being lifted up in the air by one hand belonging to the officer. The officer was now standing on his own two feet again, and Rua was being held by his neck by the guy. How the officer was able to do that so easily in the position he was in, Rua wasn't sure. All that he was sure about was that the guy had a gleam in his eyes that said he was going to kill him.

"W-wa-wait," Rua choked, his hands grasping the one holding his neck. "If y-you're going to k-kill me, th-then at least d-do it in a Duel."

"Now why do that when it would be so much easier and faster to off you the old fashion way?" said the officer, grinning in a sly manner. This caused Rua to glare at him, and give off a weak growl. "But I suppose it doesn't really matter."

The officer then practically threw Rua a few feet away from him, causing Rua to stumble back when he landed on his feet. The officer rolled up his left sleeve, and showed a silver bracelet with a series symbols on it. Rua couldn't tell which ones exactly, but he could tell the officer was pressing on specific symbols at a time. By the time he was finished, the officer put his left hand in the air, and a solid standard Duel Disk materialized over the bracelet and on his left arm.

"How did you do that?" said Rua, eyes wide in surprise as he stared at the Duel Disk that was now on the other man's arm.

"Let's not waste time on me explaining something that someone like you couldn't possibly understand, shall we," mocked the officer, causing Rua to fume a bit.

"I told you to just get of here!" said Demak, staring straight at Rua. "You don't know how dangerous this man is!"

Rua was once again staring curiously at Demak. He never thought that if he were to see the former Dark Signer again that this would be how the man would react. One of the seven people that summoned an Earthbound God was showing fear over one simple man?

"I appreciate the concern, but this guy needs to be brought down a few," said Rua, forgetting about everything else going on outside, and focusing on nothing but the Duel. "Now if you don't mind, it's my turn! Draw!" attempting to draw the first six cards from his deck. However, he had forgotten that his Duel Disk and deck were confiscated from him. If one looked close enough, they could see an anime drop on his head. "Hehe, I forgot I don't have my deck on me."

"You mean this deck?" said the officer as he held out a spare deck that was separated from his Duel Disk in his left hand before picking up the top card of it, revealing it to be Life Stream Dragon. He then placed the card back on top of the deck, walked over to Rua, and handed it over to him before walking back.

"Okay, what the heck were you doing with my deck?" said Rua, staring at the pile of cards in his hands with confusion. "In fact, how did you know this was even mine?"

"Doesn't matter," said the officer, once more grinning in a sly manner. "The point is when you lose the Duel you will die. And don't worry about not having your Duel Disk on you. Just play the game like you normally would at home."

Rua was starting to get the feeling that he was about to see why this guy has Demak freaked out so much. It doesn't matter though. He initiated the challenge, so there was no going back now.

Before the Duel could start, however, the left wall of the room began to crumble before a huge hole was blasted through it. Different sizes of debris scattered away from the explosion, causing everyone in the room to cover their face with their arms. When they all felt that the force of the explosion stopped, they slowly put their arms down and looked towards where the explosion came from.

Before the three was a small dust-cloud that was settling down. When it was gone, a man came into view. A familiar man in his mid-twenties wearing what looked to be a crossover between a scientist robe and a soldier's uniform, and a big-spiked up-silver hair that is.

"Demak, I presume?" said Aporia as he stared straight at the bald man, just before putting his gun in his robe.

"Wh-who are you?" said Demak, eyes twitching in apprehension.

"My name's not important," said Aporia as he continued to stare firmly at Demak. "I'm here to break you out. That's all you need to know."

"He's not going anywhere!" said the officer before pointing to Demak. "Not until he tells me what I want to know!"

Aporia and Demak both turned their gaze towards the officer as he scowled at them; all three were showing a look of defiance in their eyes for different reasons. Rua, on the other hand, was in temporary shock from seeing Aporia again so soon in a situation like this.

"Hey, Aporia!" said Rua with one hand cupped halfway around his mouth, causing the man in question to take notice of him for the first time. "Far be it for me to question your methods, but did you really need to start a riot all over the prison? I nearly got killed out there!"

"Rua? What are you doing here?" said Aporia, scrunching his eyes as he stared at the ponytail green-haired man. "You're not supposed to be here!"

"Well excuse me for trying to find a safe place to hide from all the fighting going on behind the door," said Rua with a bit of irritation.

"No, I mean you're really not suppose to be here in this prison," said Aporia, shaking his head left and right for a brief moment. One of Rua's eyebrows quirk in confusion, so Aporia explained what he meant. "There weren't any records of you being sent to any prisons, or jails for that matter."

"What?!" said Rua, turning stiff as a board from shock. "Then how did I end up here?"

"I'm not sure, but-," said Aporia before he was interrupted.

"Will you two shut-up!" said the officer, reminding everyone that he was in the room. His focus was solely on Rua. "I was hoping to take my time and finish you off slowly, but I guess it will have to be quick and painless," the officer's eyes then turn to Demak and Aporia. "Don't either of you go anywhere. Things are about to get good."

After the man in uniform said that, a dark aura appeared around his body and began to glow brightly. However, he was in just as much shock as the other three men were. In fact, he looked like he was downright scared.

"No...no, no, no, no, NO!" screamed the officer, his body shaking all over. "P-pl-please! Please, give just a little more time! I can beat him! You don't have to do this! Please!" tears were now pouring down from the man's eyes.

"Anyone have any idea what's happening?" said Rua, getting ready to brace himself. He wasn't sure for what though.

"Whatever it is, it's obviously something he doesn't want to happen," said Demak, staring at the now sniveling officer, whose body was growing brighter by the moment.

"The floor…it's crumbling," said Aporia, catching Rua and Demak's attention. They all continued to stare at the glowing officer in a mixer of horror and amazement, until Aporia finally figured it out. "He's a bomb! He's going to die and take this building and everyone with him!"

Both Rua and Demak gasped softly at this revelation. The younger of the two was now staring with a bit of pity at the glowing officer, who was still pleading to whoever had set him off.

"Isn't there anything we can do for him?" said Rua, panic in his voice.

"There isn't time. We have to get out of here," said Aporia, reaching in his robe for his gun.

"We can't just let him die like this…even if he is a jerk," said Rua, turning his head slowly towards Aporia. It would seem though that the man was ignoring Rua's pleads as he whipped out his gun once more and started aiming it at the floor. "Um…Aporia? What are you doing?"

"Giving us a way out," said Aporia in a simply manner as he steadied his weapon.

"There's already a hole in the wall," said Rua, head tilting in confusion. "Why not just go out through there?"

"If you think you can make it all the way from the fifth floor to the bottom without getting killed, then be my guess," said Aporia, practically saying that the young man should know better.

"Yeah…I guess I forgot that one important detail," said Rua, rubbing the back of his head with his right hand in embarrassment. "But can we still get out in time by blasting floor after floor?"

"We're not blasting out," said Aporia, causing not only Rua, but Demak to stare at him in question as well. "We're teleporting," the barrel of his gun then glowed white, just before it fired at the floor and a swirling white hole big enough for two people appeared on it.

Demak and Rua now stared in wonderment at what could be their only lifesaver in this situation. Rua, himself, was getting an idea as he stared at the portal.

"Why don't we send him through the portal instead? To somewhere where there are no people," said Rua, hoping it was something that the silver haired man had simply overlooked.

"The portal won't let anything through that's on the verge of exploding," said Aporia, fist clenching in anticipation of jumping in the vortex on the floor. "It's a safety feature to prevent sneak attacks like that. Now the both of you jump in."

No sooner had he said that, Demak had run towards the swirling portal and dived right in. He didn't know where it would take him, but he knows he doesn't want to stay and die from an explosion. Rua, however, was still staring at the begging officer.

"Rua, we have to go now!" said Aporia in a commanding tone that forces Rua to turn his head towards him once again. "The portal won't hold forever!"

"I'll be there in a minute," said Rua, before waving his hand in a shooing manner. "You go ahead, and I'll catch-up."

As reluctant as Aporia was, he marched towards the portal. He gave Rua one last look that said not to take too long, just before he stepped into the swirling white vortex.

Less than a minute has passed since the two men had left, and the officer was now completely silent. No more was he crying. No more was he shaking in fear. No more was he pleading for his life. No more anything. He just stood still in one spot.

Before Rua had a chance to question what was wrong, the officer's eyes burned a dark color all over as he turned towards the only other person in the room.

"It will end before it even begins," said the officer in a voice not his own.

"What do you mean?" said Rua, clearly confused again. Today has just been nothing but confusion for him.

The officer then glowed brighter than ever, and anyone could tell he was about to erupt. With no more time to spare, Rua ran towards the portal to make his escape. The explosion finally happened, tearing the officer from the inside out. It nearly caught up to Rua, just before he stepped on the portal and the portal itself vanished.

Late into the night of Neo Domino City, Neo Domino Prison had collapsed in on itself from a high explosion. Hundreds of officers dead, hundreds of more inmates dead, and not one survivor as far as one could tell.

A/N: We're sure that most (if not all) of you are wondering why we had Rua say to himself that Yusei's advice was never that good. The reason is that we really didn't think his advice in the series for Rua was any good. In episode 13, Yusei told Rua that his (Rua's) Dueling was selfish and smug, but all we saw was a kid that was extremely excited to Duel against someone (we understand that Rua was suppose to seem the way Yusei said that he was, but we just don't see it no matter how many times we watch that episode). Then there's episode 49 where Yusei gave Rua your typical "trust in your cards" speech. The problem we see with that is the fact Rua has already been believing in himself and his cards this whole time, but he has still lost every match from before episode 49 (yes, he did get a little scared about what to do during his Duels against Bommer and Divine, but he pulled himself together rather quickly). With this in mind, we decided to have the now 21 year old Rua's opinion of Yusei's advice to be different than what it was when he was younger.

We're also sure you all noticed that Rua is more logical and mature in this than most other stories with him as an adult. Well, that's because he was mature for his age from 11-13 years old (he still knew how to be a kid though), so it would only stand to reason that he would become more mature and serious about things now that he's 21 years old. Don't get the wrong idea though. He is nowhere near a genius, but that's not to say he will be dumb either (you people would be surprised what kind of logic the average person can come up with).


	8. Feeling of Sorrow: Ruka fights back!

A/N: We would like to make it clear that we do not want anyone to post in their reviews things we have discussed with them over the PM, because it could mislead other readers. Such as telling everyone that I said that I have seen 5D's thoroughly when I never once said that in any stories or PMs, and then contradicting my so called words by mentioning one thing that I forgot. The point is anyone who reviews this story is allowed to speak up and tell us what they don't like or what they think is wrong with it, but we would like to discuss them with you in private, and not where everyone's eyes can see it. This doesn't mean that we are disregarding your thoughts. It merely means we don't want you to discuss what we discussed with you over a PM on and of your next reviews.

I realize that there were quite a few things that came out of nowhere in the previous chapter, but we do have plans for this stuff already. Things will be explained more along the way, we promise.

To the anonymous reviewer Father 21: looking back on it now, "Secrets brings tragedy" was overdramatic and not written as well as some of Shardwing52's later stuff (he admits this himself). This story is going to be vastly different from that one, so no, they will not find out about Rua and Ruka's incest relationship with each other in the same way. In fact we're not even sure that we're going to have them find out at all.

In other news: Shardwing52 has found a way to start working on his stories and one-shots again until he gets a working computer. Now bare in mind this does not mean he will give an immediate update after this chapter is posted. Also, to take some of the workload off him, we have come to an agreement that I will keep writing "A Chaotic Destiny" since I've already written this far into it.

Chapter 7: Feeling of Sorrow: Ruka fights back!

In an unknown location, three men were standing around and thinking to themselves. They had escaped the explosion in the prison not long ago, and they weren't sure what to do as of yet. Rua, who had entered through the portal last, was sweating a little from having come so close to being caught in the blast.

"Man, that was close," Rua said, wiping the sweat off his face before turning to face Aporia and Demak.

"Why did you interfere? Do you have any idea what you were getting into!?" Demak said as he scowled the young green haired adult.

"Is that any way to talk to someone who tried to help you!?" Rua said, returning the scowl as he stared straight into the other man's eyes.

Before Demak could respond, the other occupant of the room made his voice heard.

"Enough!" Aporia yelled with annoyance, silencing both of them. After letting out a tiring sigh, he spoke in a softer manner "No way around it now. Rua, you can help."

"Really?" said Rua, eyes wide and mouth thinned out in surprise. "What made you change your mind?"

"Because you're already involved," said Aporia, receiving a questioning look from Rua. "I told you that there were no records of you ever being in prison, so that can only mean Malik is already changing things."

"But why did he want me to get arrested?" said Rua, raising one hand and turning the palm side up as if waiting for the answer to fall into his hand. "What good does that do him? Shouldn't he be targeting someone of more importance like Yusei?"

"Trust me Rua, like Yusei, you have your own part to play in things to come," said Aporia, staring firmly at the young man of the past.

It grew quiet in the room. Aporia and Rua were both staring hard at one another in a way that seemed like they were still talking. Rua questioning what it could be that's so important that he was going to do in the future that Malik wanted him out of the way, and Aporia saying that that's all he would be sharing right now.

Demak was staring in silence as well. He had listened to the two men talk with one another, and speaks as if they knew about the future…or at least one of them did. The one with the stern face, and spiked up silver hair…what was his name again? He had heard the green haired ponytail man say his name, but he didn't quite catch it. Was it Apora? Apari? Aporar? In any case, who was he, and what was he talking about? It was clear to Demak that the man broke him out for a reason, and not out of the kindness of his heart.

"Just what are you two talking about?" said Demak, his firm and deep voice echoing in their ears. The two other men turned in his direction before one of them spoke.

"Oh yeah," said Rua, flatly as he nearly glared at the bald man. He then made a gesture towards Aporia with one hand. "Demak, this is Aporia. He's from the future."

As Demak listened to the youngest man amongst them, he couldn't help but feel that the young man had something against him…if his attempt at hiding his glare was any indication. Why though? Had they meant before? Demak couldn't recall ever meeting him before, but his name was called out as if they had. All that aside though, just what did he mean by "the future"?!

"What do you mean?" said Demak, eyes squinting ever so slightly.

"It's exactly as he says," said Aporia, causing Demak's eyes to now focus on him. "I'm not from this time era, and I need your help. I know this is hard to believe, and perhaps you don't need to in order for things to work, but you are vital to the mission I am here for."

"What does he have that you need so badly?" said Rua, eyes narrowing more than they were earlier.

"Demak may not be the greatest, but his skills in stealth are unquestionable," said Aporia, causing Rua to cock an eyebrow, while Demak straightened himself out as he began to understand Aporia's attention. "Help me capture Malik, and I'll wipe your slate clean. You'll be able to go anywhere in the world you want without having to worry about getting arrested."

When Aporia had mentioned the name Malik, Demak's eyes slowly began to widen, and his shoulders began to slump a little. If they were thinking about the same Malik, then Aporia just might have to consider another alternative.

"Are you insane?" said Demak, voice nearly screeching. "Do you have any idea who Malik is? He's not someone that can be gotten to easily. And even if I do manage to capture him for you, the city isn't just going to overlook one of their members of the assembly missing! I'll just be caught again long before I can even make it to the borderline out of the city."

"Wait-what? He's a member of the assembly?" said Rua in utter bewilderment. Though it would seem neither of the other two men payed him any mind.

"I can assure you that I can get you out of the city undetected," said Aporia, his voice leaving no room for doubt. "All I asks is that you help me get Malik and everything will be set."

"Grr…don't make it sound like you're asking me to do something easy!" growled Demak with his left eye twitching in a combination of rage and annoyance.

"Hey," said Rua, gaining the others' attention now. "If Demak is going to go after the guy, then what should I do?"

"I haven't said that I'll agree to it yet!" barked Demak, eye still twitching.

"You'll be an extra pair of eyes and ears for the most part," said Aporia. Rua gave a half groan at the answer. "Malik will most likely think that you died in that explosion along with everyone else in that prison, so it will be best to keep out of site for the time being."

As Aporia turned his attention back to Demak once more in order to see if he was in or out, Rua's whole body went stiff when he processed what Aporia had just said. The words "think that you died" kept on ringing over and over in his head. Malik wouldn't be the only one to think that he died; Yusie, Jack, Crow, Aki, and even…oh god, Ruka. He couldn't let Ruka think he was dead. It nearly killed her, literally, nine years ago when he had died in front of her; he couldn't let that happen again. Granted, there was a needle that was driving itself deeper into her heart, courtesy of the previous Aporia, but that's not the point!

"Ruka!" cried Rua, causing the others to jump for a moment. "I have to get Ruka and let her know I'm okay. Aporia, where's the nearest exit? Do you have a phone? I need to get into contact with her, please."

"Rua, calm down!" said Aporia in a soft commanding voice with his right hand raised up in a halt position. "If you involve her in anyway, then you'll just put her in danger as well. Do you want to take that risk?"

"Ruka's already involved," said Rua, fist clenching as he stared in defiance at the man of the future. "Malik already put her in danger by forcing us on that joy ride on my own D-Wheel!"

"Ruka was at the wrong place at the wrong time," said Aporia, sharply. Rua was now fighting back the desire to grind his teeth together. "If Malik wanted to do her harm as well, then he would have done so already just like he did with you."

"I'm going after her," said Rua, in a slightly calmer tone. His fist were still clenching down though. "I can't just let her think that I'm dead."

Aporia let out a mental sigh; he hates when he has to deal with people like this. You try to tell them to keep away from their loved ones for their loved ones' own protection, but for some reason they never seem to want to listen. There was one more thing that Aporia could think of to try to convince Rua before he resorted to violence to stop the green hair man.

"Rua?" said Aporia as calmly as possible in order to give his voice a gentle smoothness to it that would hopefully entice the man in question to listen. "You've seen old TV shows and movies with this kind of scenario in them, right?" Rua gave a look as though he couldn't believe he was being asked this of all times. "I'm also sure you've read a few mangas that had that happened in them as well. My point is that every time the protagonist ignores the same warning, they put the person that they were supposed to stay away from in danger. Now, do you still want to get her involve?"

"I will see her again, right? When this is all over and done with I can go back and see her," said Rua, his eyes fighting back tears of frustration. He understood what he was being told, but it was just so hard for him. Thankfully, he was given a nod, so that lessened his frustration.

Aporia soon showed them their sleeping quarters, after Demak had finally said yes to his proposition. It was pretty amazing to the two men of the past how he just seemed to make the rooms appear, just by pressing on a series of buttons on what looked to be a bracelet of his. They all went to rest for the rest of the night, and prepare for the morning. As Rua came closer to sleep, he couldn't help but hope that Ruka would forgive him for practically lying to her like this.

Hours later after the sun came up, a certain green hair young woman awoken from her slumber in her hotel room. She slowly planted her feet to the floor before letting a sigh of exhaustion come out. She had spent at least a fourth of the night worrying about her dear brother, who was sent to prison just the previous day. After she stood up, she went straight to the bathroom to take a warm shower.

Moments after Ruka had entered the warm-misty shower, a smile graced her face. Today, her brother would be free again. Oh sure, he may have only spent one night, and perhaps she did worry too much about it, but that doesn't change the way she feels right now. She couldn't wait to go up to him and embrace him in her arms as she tells him she's glad he's okay…okay, that last thought was a bit too much like a sappy scene from a bad script. Never the less, she would be happy once she sees Rua grin again when he comes out; a more confident grin than the one he last gave her before she left him in that jail cell.

'I still can't help but wonder who that was that called before Rua's D-Wheel went out of control,' thought Ruka, now stepping out of the shower as the water droplets dripped from her body. 'Could Rua have gotten himself in trouble the other day…nah, he would have said something if he did…wouldn't he?' she shook her head to rid herself of any doubt, just before she began to dry herself off with a towel.

After a good five to ten minutes of getting dressed and brushing her long hair, she found herself ready to head out and meet with her twin.

RING, RING

Hearing her cell-phone ring, it would seem that someone else had other ideas for her. As she went for her phone, she tried to figure out who would be calling her at this time in the morning.

"Hello?" said Ruka, softly. Her eyes widen to attention when she heard the caller on the other line. 'Yusei? Is there something I can help you with?" she listened carefully to the spiky hair man's reply. "No, I haven't watched the news yet…why? Is something wrong?" she was answered with silence next that practically spelled dread. "Yusei, what's going on?"

His last words to her before hanging up were to simply turn on her TV, and that he and the others would be at Café La Geen if she needed them. Why would she need them though? What could be so bad that had Yusei talk to her in such a remorseful manner over the phone?

After picking up the remote, she pressed the power button to bring the TV to life. As luck would have it, there was no need to change the channel. Before Ruka's eyes was the news, and on that news made her eyes water as she dropped the remote from her hand to the floor. She covered her mouth with one hand as the tears finally broke through. Why? Why did this happen? She won't be seeing her twin again after all. She won't be seeing Rua again at all.

She wept, she wept as soft as she could. How long did she weep? She didn't know, and she didn't care. Who has time to keep track of that kind of thing when you're weeping for those who were special to you and that you would never see again? When she was finally done, at least for the time being, she decided to take Yusei up on his offer. As much as she wanted to be alone, she knew it was better to deal with this type of thing with other people that she knows and trust.

After drying her eyes off, Ruka strolled over to the outside of the hotel. She payed no mind to her surroundings as she continued onwards to the nearest bus stop, or even afterwards when the bus itself arrived. It was like she was on autopilot; no real focus or drive at all. It took until her journey was completed for her to show any sign of life again.

There they all were again, just waiting at a table for her, except there were no smiles on any of the four other former Signers' faces. When Aki spotted Ruka, she gave a small smile to the younger woman as though that should help make things seem better. The action itself may not have lifted her spirit, but never the less Ruka returned the smile before walking towards the old gang. After she sat down amongst them, everyone sat in silence as they waited for someone to speak.

"Ruka," began Crow, barley above a whisper. He didn't know what he should say next. It's going to be okay? Yeah, try saying that to someone who just lost a person close to them. How are you holding up? Well, obviously she would be having a hard time right now! No matter what Crow thought of, it all sounded terrible in his head. In the end, all he could come up with were two little words. "I'm sorry."

"You didn't do anything wrong," whispered Ruka, sadly as her head hung down and her eyes stared at her hands.

"I still feel bad," said Crow as he messaged his head with his right hand, trying to think of what else to say.

"We all do, Crow," said Aki, expressing her sadness as well. "Rua was our friend, and we all miss him, but…I can't imagine how it must feel for you, Ruka."

No, no they couldn't possibly imagine how it felt to have lost the closest person to them on such short noticed. A person who they have known their whole life, a person who was there and always looked out for them, or even a person that they deeply, deeply…cared for. The guys may have lost their parents during the Zero-Reverse, but it happened at such a young age for them that they never even knew their parents. Aki may have felt bitterness and sorrow when she thought Divine had died, but Divine had betrayed her trust the whole time.

"Hmmph, this is pointless," said Jack with his eyes closed and arms crossed, causing everyone at the table to look at him in surprise. "We should just leave her be."

"Ehh!? How can you say something like that?!" Crow practically shouted as he put his face just a few inches from Jack's. "Ruka needs our support here, and that's what we came to do!"

"I know very well about all that, but it doesn't seem like Ruka wants to talk about it," said Jack, eyes now open as they narrowed at Crow's. "And forcing her to talk about it, no matter how good intention it may be, isn't going to help her any. So unless she wishes to share her thoughts and feelings with us, this is completely pointless."

"Guys!" intervened Aki with a fierce glare, causing the two pro-league Riding-Duelists to turn to her with their eyes widen to attention. "Ruka is still here, so you might as well talk to her instead of just about her."

That caused the both of them to turn their attention back towards Ruka, who was still hanging her head down and staring at her hands as she listened to three of her four friends at the table talk to each other about her. Obviously, the two bickering males felt a tad of shame and embarrassment for how they had just acted moments ago out of all times. They would get into these arguments from time to time, but now was not the time for it. They were both only trying to help Ruka, but now it looked like they went about it the wrong way. In truth, they both had wanted to hit something when they heard the male twin was dead, but restrained themselves for Ruka's sake. They figured if any of them had the right to show anger first, it should be her.

"Sorry," said Jack and Crow simultaneously, heads bowing politely.

"It's okay," said Ruka, softly before slowly raising her head up to stare at them and give a weak smile. "I know you all mean well, and I do appreciate what you're all trying to do for me…but Jack's right. I just don't feel like talking much about it today. I'm sorry."

"It's alright Ruka," said Yusei in a gentle tone, causing the youngest woman in the group to stare at him. "We're here if you ever need us."

"I just wished that I could've done something," said Ruka, tears beginning to form in her eyes.

"There was nothing that you could do," Crow said as reassuringly as possible. "There was nothing any of us could have done to stop this from happening."

As reassuring as those words were meant to be for Ruka, it wasn't putting her at ease. In fact, it was making it worse. There is only room for two types of emotions for a person, such as Ruka, who has lost something or someone of great value to them: sadness, and anger. Before, she was letting her sadness take a hold of her, but now things were starting to lean towards the other direction.

"You're wrong," whispered Ruka, smile now gone and her head once more hanging down. The four other occupants of the table all stared at her in confusion as they waited for an explanation. "Yusei."

"What-," began Yusei as his eyes widen from his name being said.

"This is you're fault," whispered Ruka in an even softer manner. So soft, that the others didn't even hear her.

"I'm sorry, what?" said Yusei, leaning in a little more on the table to hear her better.

"I said this is you're fault!" Ruka all but screamed, causing the others to back away in surprise as far as their chairs would let them. What stood before them now was a woman with eyes burning with rage. "If you had just said 'no' yesterday, then Rua would still be here!"

The group was in utter shock at the young female's choice of words. What was even more shocking were the tears of hate that followed after each syllable that she spoke.

"Ruka, I-," started Yusei as he tried to find the right words to say, but Ruka wasn't in the mood to listen to him today.

"Don't talk to me," said Ruka as she got up from her chair, her voice holding nothing but contempt for the black hair and yellow streaks man. "Just don't talk to me ever again!"

After those final words, Ruka stormed off with her tears still falling fast. The bus headed in the direction she needed to go wouldn't be coming by for at least another hour, but that's fine. She'll just walk back to her hotel room; she didn't care at the moment. There were a lot of things she didn't care about at the moment. For example: she didn't care that she felt horrible for what she said to Yusei. It was his fault that Rua was dead, so he wasn't going to get any sympathy from her. In any case, she was just looking for something or someone to blame for this terrible incident.

When she had finally arrived back at the hotel, she was greeted by a red headed woman wearing a business suit just standing near the entrance. The woman looked straight at her with a vacant expression before she started to stride towards Ruka.

"Excuse me miss, but are you Ruka-," said the woman with an expressionless face. The woman's lack of emotion unnerved the green haired woman, but Ruka still nodded in confirmation even before the woman completely finished her question. "My name is Electra. Could you come with me? There are some things I need to discuss with you."

As Electra turned on her heels and took a few steps forwards, Ruka stayed put and began to think as she stared at the back of the red head.

"Why, where are we going?" said Ruka, softly.

"Please, just come with me if you will," beckoned Electra in a manner that Ruka didn't like one bit.

"I'm sorry, but I have other things to do," said Ruka. Lying wasn't something she normally did, but there was just something about this woman that seemed off. It was like the woman before her wasn't really there.

"There's no need to lie to me. I know all about you being jobless, so you would naturally have nothing you need to do," said Electra, causing the green hair woman to look up in alarm. "I'm here because I was sent to seek out potential candidates, such as yourself, for hire. Now if you'll follow me, we'll discuss what the job requires of you and if you're suitable for it."

"I don't believe you," said Ruka in a soft, yet firm manner. She stood still, staring at the red hair woman's eyes that were void of any emotions. "If what you're saying is true, then you could have just left a note for the hotel manager to give me instead of waiting here. Who are you, and what do you really want?"

"I suppose it was my mistake to assume that an intelligent woman like you would be that gullible to fall for something like that," said Electra, her expression never changing. Ruka's, however, became one of apprehensiveness. "Very well, if you must know, I'm here to discuss matters about your brother, Rua."

"What do you want with him?" said Ruka, eyes widening in surprise. First this woman comes out of nowhere and lies to her about a job offer, and now she's saying she wants to talk about Ruka's dead brother? Just who was this woman, and what was she really after?

"I just thought you would like to know something about him," said Electra, standing as stiff as a board.

"My brother never kept anything big from me," said Ruka, her eyes now narrowing in distrust.

"That may be the case, but wouldn't you like to know what happened last night?" said Electra.

"What do you mean?" said Ruka, raising one eyebrow in a questioning manner.

"I mean, how he died exactly. How he went through so much pain. And how I relish the knowledge that I manage to make it happen in such a sort amount of time," said Electra, still no expression. There wasn't even so much as a smirk at the declaration of enjoyment.

"W-what did you…?" said Ruka in utter shock and disbelief. Was this woman really saying what Ruka thought she was saying, or did the young green head simply misheard? After thinking it over for a few seconds, Ruka was now sure about what she had just heard come out of the other woman's mouth. "You killed-"

"Oh, I didn't do it directly. I only deal with problems that no one else can take care of," said Electra, causing Ruka to glare in such hatred. "I thought it would be better to trick you and get you to Duel me first before I revealed this to you, but now I'm thinking this was much better after all."

Ruka's whole body was starting to shake with so much anger that she looked like she was about to explode. This woman-no-this monster took her special person from her, and now her brother's death was being mock. She thought that she had released most of her anger on Yusei earlier that day, but it wasn't comparable to what she felt now. She wouldn't forgive this monster for what happened. She wouldn't forgive Rua's death being mock. She WOULDN'T show any mercy.

"You want to Duel me, then fine!" Ruka all but shouted. She reached into her white handbag, retrieved her Duel-Disk, and attached it to her left arm. "Let's Duel right here, right now."

"We will Duel, but not here," said Electra, just before she began to walk off once again. "You'll want to follow if you wish to Duel me."

Ruka continued to stare at the retreating woman as she disappeared around the corner of a nearby alleyway. Ruka soon followed after. This Electra person is going to regret ever telling her all of this.

Once they were deep enough in the alleyway where no one would notice them, they came to a complete halt. Electra turned around and faced Ruka, who was glaring with such intensity. Yet, while Ruka was glaring, Electra's face was still vacant of any emotion. Before Ruka could question this, however, the other woman spoke up.

"Now obviously we won't be Dueling in a normal Duel," said Electra, receiving a small grunt from the long green hair woman. "So just to give you a fighting chance, I'll let you have the first turn."

The red head then moved the sleeve on her left arm up, revealing a bracelet of sorts. After pressing a series of keys on the object, a Duel-Disk materialized onto the woman's arm in place of the bracelet itself.

"Duel!" said both of the female opponents. Soon, they were both surrounded by a wall of flashing light that disappeared as quickly as it came. Ruka didn't know what it was exactly, but she's experienced stuff like it enough times to realize it was going to make everything in the Duel feel real.

(Ruka: LP 4,000 Electra: LP 4,000  
Hand 5/5  
Deck 35/35)

"My turn! Draw!" said Ruka as she drew from the top of her deck. "I summon Fairy Archer in attack mode."

(Fairy Archer

3 stars effect monsters

Light Attribute

Angel Type

ATK 1,400 DEF 600)

In front of Ruka illuminated a small fairy with golden wings with red outlines on them. She wore purple tights that covered everywhere but her arms and head. The upper half of the length of her outfit extended to shoulder-pads, and she wore a series of leafs around the waist in the sense of a skirt. In her hand was a golden bow with no strings.

"Next, I play the spell card Dual Summon," said Ruka as she placed a card in the spell/trap card zone for this one turn. "This allows me to normal summon one more time this turn, but I can only activate one Dual Summon per turn. Now I'll summon Regulus in attack mode."

(Regulus

4 stars effect monster

Light Attribute

Beast type

ATK 1,700 DEF 1,000)

Next to the small archer stood a white lion with a brown mane around its head. The lion wore shining blue armor with some yellow outlines on its back and limbs. The strangest thing about this lion though, was that it had a horn on the center of his forehead with what looked to be some sort of red symbol just below the horn. Upon his summon, the strange lion let out a growl.

"I activate Fairy Archer's effect!" said Ruka. "Once per turn, I can inflict 400 points of damage for each face-up Light monster I control."

The fairy lifted her bow in her left hand up as she positioned her right hand in manner that suggested an arrow was already knotted. In her right hand appeared a golden arrow with the head piece shaped like a heart. Instead of the very tip being pointy, it was flat with a ruby in the dead center of it. The little archer then fired the arrow right at the opposing Duelist, receiving no sound of pain, but the red head did take a few steps back before resuming her original position.

(Ruka: LP 4,000 Electra: LP 3,200  
Hand 3/5  
Deck 34/35)

"I place two cards face-down and end my turn," said Ruka, placing two cards in the spell/trap card slot. They appeared face-down for a brief moment before they became transparent.

"Not bad, but can you do better?" said Electra, receiving only an angry sounding "hmm" as a response. "Anyways, it's my turn. Draw!"

(Ruka: LP 4,000 Electra: LP 3,200  
Hand 1/6  
Deck 34/34)

"I summon Elecking Cobra in attack mode," said Electra, putting the card on top of her Duel-Disk.

(Elecking Cobra

4 stars effect monster

Light Attribute

Thunder type

ATK 1,000 DEF 500)

In front of the red head appeared a cobra with red on the top and blue on the bottom of its body. Near the head were yellow patterns in the shape of lightning bolts, and four screws just below its head with what appeared to be some sort of orb. Taking a closer look at the reptile, one could see that parts of its scales were missing and that the inside was filled with cable wires instead of organ and blood. As the snake hissed, sparks came out through out its body.

"Now I'll play the continuous spell card Elecure," said Electra as a sphere sparking with electricity rose above her head. It was starting to become obvious where she got her name from. "When a thunder type monster I control inflicts battle damage to my opponent, I gain life points equal to the damage inflicted. Oh, and Elecking Cobra's effect allows it to attack directly. Go, direct attack."

The cobra slithered its way towards the green hair woman, hissing and sparking as it went. When it got close enough to attack, Ruka braced herself for it to sink its fangs in her. However, it instead coiled itself around her right leg, squeezing her limp gently. As Ruka was about to let out a breath of relief when the snake was beginning to loosen on her, It wrapped itself with more vigor and shot electricity throughout her body with the same force as a police taser. She screamed as loud as she could without her voice hurting her as well, all the while her body vibrated from the leg up.

Unknown to either one of the Dueling females, the scream was heard. Though, not near where they're dueling. In fact, the person who heard it wasn't even sure how he had when he doesn't even know where he is, but he did. Rua had heard his little sister screaming in pain.

"Aporia, did you here that?" said Rua, staring up at the ceiling as he tried to focus on the sound he had heard. Aporia turned to him and gave out a questioning "hmm" as a response. "It was Ruka. She's in trouble!"

"What are you talking about?" said Aporia, flatly. Surely, the young man was just making up an excuse for himself in order to have a reason to see his twin. There was no way he could have heard her in this place.

"I'm telling you, she's in trouble!" said Rua with a mix of panic and force put into his voice. "I have to go and help her anyway I can, right now!"

"Rua, you're hearing things," said Aporia, abruptly. "There is no way for anyone in here to hear anything outside this room, and the same is said for the other way around."

"But I'm telling you that she needs help!" said Rua, his voice now louder than before as he leaned closer to the older man.

"And I'm telling you that you heard nothing," said Aporia, eyes narrowing as though he was giving a solider a command. "And bring it up again; I'll be force to do something that I wish not to."

Back at the Duel: the cobra had slithered it's way back to its master as the woman it had attacked looked like her legs were about to give out. Against the odds though, Ruka got her second wind and stood as firm as she could while she tried to catch her breath.

(Ruka: LP 3,000 Electra: LP 3,200  
Hand 1/4  
Deck 34/34)

"When Elecking Cobra inflicts damage by a direct attack, I add one Elec monster from my deck to my hand," said Electra, just before her Duel-Disk began to automatically shuffle her deck before ejecting a card that fits the requirements. She took said card and placed it in her hand. "Now the effect of Elecure activates."

From the electronic sphere came a small light that shined itself onto the red head as she stood unmoving from her spot.

(Ruka: LP 3,000 Electra: LP 4,200  
Hand 1/5  
Deck 34/33)

"Trap card open! Mischief of Oberon!" said Ruka as she pressed a button on her Duel-Disk to activate one of her face-downs. "When an effect that increases life points is activated, the effect is negated and we both take damage equal to the amount that would have been gained!"

"I'm impress. You managed to use my own card against me," said Electra as plainly as she has said everything else thus far, which was getting a bit irritating by now. "Perhaps you'll give an entertaining Duel before I kill you and your brother after all."

Before Ruka could say anything in response, a gust of wind blew at both of them in the center of their Duel. It wasn't painful as long as they would cover their eyes from the harsh breeze, which Ruka did while her opponent stood still.

(Ruka: LP 2,000 Electra: LP 2,200  
Hand 1/5  
Deck 34/33)

"I thought you said you killed Rua," said Ruka with both a confused and enraged voice as she glared at the woman.

"Oops, well I guess it doesn't matter now," said Electra, causing the long green hair woman to stare in curiosity. "I set three cards face down and end my turn."

While it was Ruka's turn, all she could do was stand there and stare into nothing. She didn't know how she should feel exactly. Did this woman lie to her, or was she lying now? Was it possible that Rua escaped? If it was, then where was he?

"My turn! Draw!" said Ruka as she shifted her focus back on the match and drew one card from the top of her deck.

(Ruka: LP 2,000 Electra: LP 2,200  
Hand 2/2  
Deck 33/33)

"I summon Rose Bird in attack mode," said Ruka, placing a card in the monster zone.

(Rose Bird

4 stars effect monster

Wind Attribute

Plant type

ATK 1,800 DEF 1,500)

Next to the lion in armor's other side, came a green bird. This bird's body was made out of one solid dark green leaf, while its wings looked to be made up of several light green flimsy leafs. At the edge of its wings and the top of its head was one red rose each. The only parts that didn't seem to be made out of a plant were its beak and feet. It let out a cawing sound, getting ready to battle.

"Counter trap! Elecancel!" said Electra, activating one of her three face downs. "When my opponent normal or special summons a monster, I can discard one Elec monster from my hand to negate the summon and destroy it."

After Electra discarded one card from her hand, the plant-like-bird gave out a short screech as it was struck by an electrical attack out of nowhere and incinerated.

"I activate Fairy Archer's effect!" said Ruka, her monster doing as it did before and firing straight at the red head.

(Ruka: LP 2,000 Electra: LP 1,400  
Hand 1/1  
Deck 33/33)

"Trap card open! Ancient Sunshine!" said Ruka, using the last of her face-downs. "When Regulus is face-up on my field, I can remove Ancient Fairy Dragon from my grave or my deck to inflict 2100 points of damage to my opponent."

Ruka took her dragon Synchro monster from the hidden compartment of her Duel-Disk, and then set it in one of her short pockets. From the lion's horn shot out a radiant beam right at the opposing Duelist. It was getting closer, and closer, and…

"Trap card open! Pikeru's Magic Formation!" said Electra, just before a circle with symbols surrounded her body and produced a wall of light. The wall held up against the beam until the attack had completely stopped, and then it vanished. "All damage to me from card effects becomes zero until the end of the turn."

Ruka's fairy and lion then both immediately shattered into pieces, and were sent to the grave. She had to think of something good, because things were not looking too good with just one card in her hand and no cards on her field.

"I play the spell card Emergency Lifesaving," said Ruka as she played the card in her hand. "During my main phase two, I can special summon one level four monster from my graveyard that was destroyed by a card effect this turn. Appear once more, Regulus, in attack mode!"

(Regulus

4 stars effect monster

Light Attribute

Beast type

ATK 1,700 DEF 1,000)

From an illuminating light pounced the white lion, growling as it bared its fangs in rage. The beast looked like it was ready to tear whatever may stand in its way of protecting his master and friend.

"I end my turn," said Ruka, no more moves left to be play.

"I see," said Electra, causing her opponent to look at her in anger once again. "You were planning to use your trap card's drawback as a means for your Rose Bird's effect, so that your field would not be empty if I should have somehow negated the damage your trap would have inflicted on me. Then you would have used your spell card to revive your bird, so that you would have had three monsters on the field instead of just one right now. Not a bad back up plan. It's just too bad your bird never made it onto the field. Well, enough of that. My turn! Draw!"

(Ruka: LP 2,000 Electra: LP 1,400  
Hand 0/2  
Deck 33/32)

"Trap card open! Eleckeeper!" said Electra as a small box covered in dark and light blue stripes with a lighting bolt insignia in the front center of it appeared before her feet. "This card lets me special summon one level four or lower Elec monster from my graveyard, but it's sent back there by the end of the turn. And since the only monster that's in my graveyard is the one I sent from my hand, that just leaves me with one choice. I choose Eleckiwi in defense mode."

(Eleckiwi

3 stars Tuner monster

Light Attribute

Thunder type

ATK 600 DEF 100)

The lid of the box lifted itself open, and out came a hand made out of solid electricity. The electric hand searched through its owner's discard pile until it had a grip on a small monster that it sat onto the field before letting go and disappearing. The monster that had been grabbed and released by the electric hand was a kiwi bird. Except this bird's body was nothing but a lightbulb, and it had no wings whatsoever. It did, however, have a head and legs. The monster made no sound; it just brightened up the dueling field with its body.

"Next I'll summon Eleclemur in attack mode," said Electra, just as plainly as she has been thus far.

(Eleclemur

2 stars effect monster

Light Attribute

Thunder type

ATK 800 DEF 100)

On the opposite side of the lightbulb monster emerged a blue and yellow lemur with big orange eyes. Within its inner thighs were screws tighten into it, and its long tail was radiating light and one could see inside the tail that there was a bunch of red and blue wires.

"Now I'll tune my level 4 Elecking Cobra with my level 3 Tuner Eleckiwi," said Electra before beginning to chant. "Mighty beast, born from the voltage! Come forth and bite terror into my enemy! Synchro Summon! Come forth, Eleckirimu!"

(Eleckirimu

7 stars Synchro/effect monsters

Light Attribute

Thunder type

ATK 1,500 DEF 1,500)

As the chant was being said, Eleckiwi dissimilated into three glowing green stars that each went around in a circle again and again until they blended so well that you couldn't tell they were stars anymore. Elecking Cobra started to become transparent, and four shining green stars could be seen within. Elecking Cobra leapt in the air and into the three rings that were once Eleckiwi. A great flash of light occurred, and a new monster took the place of the two.

What emerged from the light was a huge mythical beast, similar to a hydra. The creature had seven heads, each with one horn and canine-like fangs. Covering every single head on the areas where its eyes would be was the color red covered in yellow dots. It stood on two legs with the knees bent. On each knee was a spike. While it did have a serpent-like tail, it also had a feathery one as well. The beast radiated as electricity was coursing through its body, and each time one of its heads would hiss or roar, electric sparks would come out of its mouths.

"Now, Eleclemur, attack Regulus," said Electra, only slightly surprising her opponent by her move. Ruka had already figured that the opposing monster must have an effect that actives sometime during or after it attacks.

The lemur came running towards the lion in haste. When the small electric animal was close enough, it leapt into the area at its target. The armored advisory, however, simply took one of its front paws and slashed at the foe with his claws. The smaller of the two was then ripped into shreds and vanished.

(Ruka: LP 2,000 Electra: LP 500  
Hand 0/1  
Deck 33/32)

"Eleclemur's effect is that when it's destroyed by an opponent's card, my opponent can't conduct their battle phase on their next turn," said Electra as the white lion was being paralyzed by a strong electric current coursing through its body. "Now, using my monster's effect, attack her directly Eleckirimu."

The mythical creature opened all seven of its mouths, each building up a ball of electricity as they prepared to fire on the green hair woman. Ruka's entire body tensed up from fear of the attack about to head her way. When each electric ball was ready, the heads fired them in rapid session. As that was happening, however, several of Ruka's Duel Monster Spirits from her deck formed a barrier with themselves in front of her to take the blunt of the onslaught. The barrier held for the first six attacks, but the seventh one shattered Ruka's only protection and scattered her Duel Monster Spirit friends away as her whole body was now surrounded by the ball of electricity. She screamed, she screamed so loud that it was surprising that no one came by to see what the noise was all about.

Just like the last time, Rua somehow heard her scream. The difference was that it sounded much worse. It was killing him. He needed to be there for her right now! The only thing stopping him was a certain man from the future by the name Aporia. After what happened the last time this happened, it was probably not a good move to bring this new scream up. Rua thought, and thought, until he finally thought of an idea that just might get him out of this place and to his sister's side.

"Hey Aporia?" said Rua, causing the man in question to turn his head towards him. "How is Demak supposed to get back here anyways?"

"What do you want to know for?" said Aporia with suspicion in his voice. "You didn't seem to be enjoying his company, so why are you worrying now?"

"I'm not worrying about him per-say," said Rua, fighting to keep his voice from giving anything away. "It's just that he left to get Malik, so how do you expect him to return here with him when we don't even know where here is? You didn't even give him a teleport gun like you have."

"There's more than one way to get here," said Aporia, taking his eyes off Rua as he went back to working on whatever it was. The sound of a simple "huh," however, caused the silver hair man to let out a sigh and continue. "I gave him one of my keycards that are good for one use only to get back here, right after I told him to simply visualize a door and the place he wanted to go to when he was ready to leave."

"Wait, all you have to do is think about where you want to go to, and a door will just appear in this room just like that?" said Rua, not believing it was that simple this whole time. He had thankfully found a keycard earlier just lying around on the floor; Aporia must not have noticed he was missing one. All Rua had to do now was think about where he wanted to go exactly, which didn't take him too long to do.

"Yes, that's all it takes. Now if you would please ju-oh no," said Aporia, face becoming one of disbelief. He turned his head to where the younger man stood as he just realized he had been had. He could clearly see Rua making his way for the now visible door. "Rua!"

Aporia gave a short chase, but Rua had already made it to the door and opened it before they were even within two feet of each other. As the door vanished along with the ponytail man, Aporia cursed at the very thought that he fell for that. He tried to tell the young man, but he was another stubborn one that just didn't want to listen to reason. He then checked his pocket, and started counting all of his still usable keycards…not one of them was missing. If not one of them was missing, then that must mean he has no intention of coming back. He could be anywhere now, and anyone might see him and question him about his so call death…not good.

Back at the Duel: the ball of electricity had disappeared from around Ruka, and the poor thing had fallen onto her hands and knees as she struggled to catch her breath. She hadn't felt pain like that since the Duel with Aporia on the Arc Cradle; at least there was no needle piercing itself closer to her heart.

(Ruka: LP 500 Electra: LP 500  
Hand 0/1  
Deck 33/32)

"When Eleckirimu inflicts damage by a direct attack, I choose one card from my deck and remove it from play before adding it to my hand on my second standby phase," said Electra, just before her Duel-Disk began to automatically shuffle her deck before ejecting a card that fits the requirements. She took said card and placed it in one of her shirt pockets. "Now the effect of Elecure activates."

(Ruka: LP 500 Electra: LP 2,000  
Hand 0/1

Eleckirimu's effect 0/2 turns  
Deck 33/31)

"I play the field spell Elecastle," said Electra, placing the card in the field slot of her Duel-Disk. As the name would suggest, a castle as tall as the two buildings that the two Duelists were between arose from the ground up. The castle was painted in a scheme of red, blue, and yellow and electricity sparked all around it. "I end my turn."

Ruka barely took notice of her opponent ending her turn. She was still in much pain, and her body felt like it was still jittering from the constant shock from the previous attack. Her eyes were half close by now as she was fighting to stay conscious. When she looked up at the opposing woman, she willed herself to stand once more. Her body ached, her legs wanted her to sit down, but she couldn't do that right now. Right now, she has to get some answers from this woman. The only way that's going to happen is by getting the edge in this Duel.

"My turn! Draw!" said Ruka, trying to ignore the pain her body made whenever she moved.

(Ruka: LP 500 Electra: LP 2,000  
Hand 1/0

Eleckirimu's effect 0/2 turns  
Deck 32/31)

"I active the spell card Jar of Greed, and draw two cards," said Ruka, weakly as she took the top two cards from her deck. "Next, I'll summon Big Bangirl in defense mode.

(Big Bangirl

4 stars effect monster

Fire Attribute

Pyro type

ATK 1,300 DEF 1,500)

Bursting out of a flame was a maiden with long locks reaching to the midway point of her back. She wore a fiery red robe around her body as her right hand held a wooden staff that seemed to carry an intensity of heat within it. Her eyes themselves looked as though they would burn into your very soul if she were to stare long enough.

"Now, I'll activate the spell card Protective Sealing Swords of Light," said Ruka, three glowing greenish-yellow swords appearing on Electra's side of the field in front of her monster as it hissed and roared at the barricade. "For your next-"

"I know very well what the card does. Now why don't you save what little strength you have and avoid talking unless it's necessary? You look like you'll need it," interrupted Electra, receiving a tired glare from Ruka. If she wasn't looking straight at the woman right now, Ruka would have sworn the red head was smirking. Yet the mysterious woman has made no expression since she's made her appearance.

"You're expression has been vacant since I first met you, and you don't seem to feel any pain at all," panted Ruka as she just looked on at the other woman, who stood completely still. "Just why is that?"

"Well if you must know, it's because I'm not actually here at all," said Electra, causing the other woman to give her a strange look. "You see, this woman you see before you is just a simple pawn and doesn't even know it. She doesn't even know where she's at or what's going on. I'm merely controlling her from some distances away."

"You're sick," panted Ruka, though she wanted to growl. She waited a moment to see if she would get a response out of that, but she soon continued when she realized she wasn't going to get any. "I end my turn."

"My turn! Draw!" said Electra, or more likely whoever was controlling her.

(Ruka: LP 500 Electra/controller: LP 2,000  
Hand 0/1

Eleckirimu's effect 1/2 turns

Protective Sealing Swords of Light 0/3 turns  
Deck 30/30)

"I play the equip spell card Elecube, and equip it on Eleckirimu," said Electra/controller as an electric cube hovered above one of the seven heads of the mythical monster. "This card increases the attack of a thunder type monster it's equipped to by 100 points for each thunder type in my grave. Just a reminder, I have three."

(Eleckirimu: ATK 1,500 DEF 1,500-ATK 1,800 DEF 1,500)

"Elecube's other effect, however, allows me to send it to the graveyard and increase the attack of one thunder type monster that I control by 1,000 points," said Electra/controller, just before she/they followed through with the effect she/they had just mentioned. One of the seven heads of her/their monster then swallowed the cube whole, radiating with even more electric current than it previously did.

(Eleckirimu: ATK 1,800 DEF 1,500-ATK 1,500 DEF 1,500-ATK 2,500 DEF 1,500)

"I end my turn," said Electra/controller as one of the three swords blocking her had just vanished.

"My turn! Draw!" breathed Ruka as she moved a bit slowly from the pain.

(Ruka: LP 500 Electra/controller: LP 2,000  
Hand 1/0

Eleckirimu's effect 1/2 turns

Protective Sealing Swords of Light 1/3 turns  
Deck 29/30)

"During my standby phase, I can reveal Golden Ladybug in my hand once per turn until the end phase. And by doing so, I gain 500 life points," said Ruka, revealing the card she had just drew. A small light radiated from the card as a golden ladybug actually came out of it as though the light was a portal. The bug then flew overhead of Ruka, and released some sort of sparkly substance. It then returned through the same way that it came.

(Ruka: LP 1,000 Electra/controller: LP 2,000  
Hand 1/0

Eleckirimu's effect 1/2 turns

Protective Sealing Swords of Light 1/3 turns  
Deck 29/30)

"Big Bangirl's effect actives," said Ruka, her panting beginning to slow down some. "Whenever my life point increases, my opponent takes 500 points of damage."

(Ruka: LP 1,000 Electra/controller: LP 1,500  
Hand 1/0

Eleckirimu's effect 1/2 turns

Protective Sealing Swords of Light 1/3 turns  
Deck 29/30)

"I end my turn," said Ruka, flipping her card in her hand to where her opponent couldn't see it any more.

"My turn! Draw!" said Electra/controller as she drew one card from the top of her/their deck.

(Ruka: LP 1,000 Electra/controller: LP 1,500  
Hand 1/1

Eleckirimu's effect 2/2 turns

Protective Sealing Swords of Light 1/3 turns  
Deck 29/29)

"Since it's my second standby phase since I activated Eleckirimu's effect, I get to add the removed card into my hand," said Electra/controller, taking the card out of her shirt pocket and adding it to her hand. "I end my turn."

"My turn! Draw!" said Ruka, knees almost giving out again.

(Ruka: LP 1,000 Electra/controller: LP 1,500  
Hand 2/2

Protective Sealing Swords of Light 2/3 turns  
Deck 28/29)

"During my standby phase, I'll activate Golden Ladybug's effect," said Ruka as she showed the card she had named from her hand.

(Ruka: LP 1,500 Electra/controller: LP 1,500  
Hand 2/2

Protective Sealing Swords of Light 2/3 turns  
Deck 28/29)

"Big Bangirl's effect actives," said Ruka, just before she started to wobble over before finding her bearings once more.

(Ruka: LP 1,500 Electra/controller: LP 1,000  
Hand 2/2

Protective Sealing Swords of Light 2/3 turns  
Deck 28/29)

"I set one card face-down and end my turn," said Ruka, flipping her remaining card in her hand to where her opponent couldn't see it any more.

"My turn! Draw!" said Electra/controller, drawing the top card from her/their deck.

(Ruka: LP 1,500 Electra/controller: LP 1,000  
Hand 1/3

Protective Sealing Swords of Light 2/3 turns  
Deck 28/28)

"I summon Elecgrasshopper in defense mode," said Electra/controller, putting the card onto the monster card zone.

(Elecgrasshopper

Level 1 effect monster

Light Attribute

Thunder type

ATK 0 DEF 0)

Hopping out of thin air was a green and blue grasshopper with two lighting bolt insignias on its back. Whenever it made a chirping sound with its back legs, sparks of electricity would show on its body.

"Now I'll activate the spell card Dual Summon. And I obviously don't need to explain its effect to you," said Electra/controller, gaining no facial response from Ruka that she hasn't already gained. "I'll summon another Elecgrasshopper in defense mode."

(Elecgrasshopper

Level 1 effect monster

Light Attribute

Thunder type

ATK 0 DEF 0)

A grasshopper, just like the last one, hopped out of thin air and onto the field. Both insects were on opposite sides of the huge behemoth that they shared a field with. The chirping that they made grew louder and louder, and the sparks grew bigger and bigger, until the sparks grew so big that they connected with one another.

"Ruka!" cried out a voice, causing the two women to focus their attention behind the girl in question. What Ruka saw had her speechless for but a moment as she could hardly believe her eyes.

"Rua!" said Ruka, happy to see her twin well and alive. "You're alive!"

"Yeah," said Rua, softly as he slowly made his way towards his sister. "I'm sorry for about the whole 'letting people think I was dead' thing."

"You jerk!" said Ruka, tears once more returning to her eyes as she looked at her brother in a mixer of happiness and anger for what he had let her gone through, and for being alive. "Do you have any idea how upset I was when I heard you were dead?! Why didn't you call?"

"He…he…sorry," said Rua, having halted in his steps for a brief moment before resuming to walk again. "I would have, but things were getting in the way of me doing so."

"It's alright. I'm just glad to see you're okay," said Ruka, giving a small tender smile, while receiving one in return.

"I'm sorry to break this touchy moment, but we still have a Duel to finish," said Electra/controller, causing the siblings to turn their heads in her/their direction with a show of anger on their face. "If you like, you can take her place for her boy."

"No," said Ruka, stopping Rua from no doubt accepting the deal "I'm going to finish this myself."

"Ruka, you're hurt," said Rua, his sister's injury not going unnoticed by him. He wanted to give this red head a piece of his mind for whatever she did exactly. "Let me take over, and you can rest."

"I thought I lost you again, and I'm not willing to take that chance at this time just yet," said Ruka as firmly as she could. While her brother gave a worry look, she countered with a confident smile. That was enough, to ease him up some. "Besides, I'm good."

"You think you're good?" said Electra/controller, voice holding a bit of curiousness. "Your life points are at 1,500, you're facing a monster with 2,500 attack points that can attack directly, and my two Elecgrasshoppers stops you from targeting any of my other Elec monsters with card effects or monster attacks. Even with your Ladybug and Bangirl combo, I'll still have 500 points left for my next turn where I'll be able to attack."

'It's kind of like my Magnen lock combo,' thought Rua, worry beginning to return a little before he pushed it away. 'Only these monsters don't need to be in a certain battle position to use their effects.'

"Just why do you want us dead exactly?" said Ruka, still firm as before. "What do you get out of this?"

"It's not you I need dead, just him," said Electra/controller as she/they pointed at Rua for a second before bringing it back down. "I get nothing for it, other than the acknowledgment that I succeeded in my mission."

"But why do you want Rua dead?" said Ruka, nearly shouting.

"My master doesn't like the fact that someone like him is walking around," said Electra/controller, with just a bit of venom in the words "him". "I figured if I took controlled of this woman's body and Dueled you, he would come running in no time. And I would be able to finish him off."

"Master…are you talking about Malik?" said Rua, causing Ruka to give a surprising look from hearing the same name that Yusei mentioned last night.

"Malik? Malik is merely one of my master's soldiers," said Electra/controller, receiving a grunt from the male twin. "Now let's get on with the Duel. I end my turn."

"Trap card open! God's Blessing!" said Ruka as she revealed her face-down to be a continuous trap. "Every time I draw a card, or cards, I gain 500 life points."

"Hmm, I'll be sure not to underestimate you the next time we meet," said Electra/controller, gesture for Ruka to continue.

"My turn! Draw!" said Ruka, drawing her last card of the Duel.

(Ruka: LP 2,000 Electra/controller: LP 1,000  
Hand 2/0  
Deck 27/28)

"Big Bangirl's effect actives," said Ruka.

(Ruka: LP 2,000 Electra/controller: LP 500  
Hand 2/0  
Deck 27/28)

"I reveal Golden Ladybug to activate its effect," said Ruka as she revealed said card in her hand.

(Ruka: LP 2,500 Electra/controller: LP 500  
Hand 2/0  
Deck 27/28)

"Finallay, Big Bangirl's effect actives," said Ruka, her final move of the match.

(Ruka: LP 2,500 Electra/controller: LP 0  
Hand 2/0  
Deck 27/28)

The wall of light that appeared and disappeared when the match began reappeared once more before shrinking down to the ground and vanishing. The body of the woman, known as Electra, fell over on her back to unconsciousness; the controller no doubt releasing their hold. As soon as the wall was down, Rua ran up to Ruka and caught her before she could fall over. The female twin was still awake, but just barely. Her brother had to hold her for support after the adrenaline during the Duel ran out.

"It's okay Ruka," whispered Rua as softly as he could. "I'll get you to a hospital real quick."

"You're not going anywhere," spoke an entirely new voice. When the twins looked to see where the voice had come from, they found themselves looking at the body of Electra with her eyes still close. Only there was someone else's voice coming out of her mouth. "This woman has one more use."

As those words were said, the woman's body began to glow in a rapid sensation. Ruka was confused by what it meant, but Rua knew exactly what it was and mentally panicked. He took out the keycard as he moved to the nearest wall with his sister and pressed the object on the wall. A white swirling vortex, like the one from last night, appeared before them.

"Rua? What is that?" said Ruka, eyes mesmerized by the portal before them.

"It's our way to safety," said Rua before taking a quick look at the glowing woman, who seemed like she was going to blow any moment. "We have to go before she blows."

"Wait, what?" said Ruka in uttered surprised by her brother's explanation, just before he made the both of them jump through the portal. Just in time, because the woman's body incinerated as soon as they left and burned the entire alleyway to a crisp.

When Rua made it back to who-knows-where with his sister, they gasped for a quick breath; Ruka more so than Rua, given what she's been through.

"What happened to her?" said Aporia as he stared at Ruka's injured body in shock.

"She was attacked by people working with Malik," said Rua, eyes narrowing at the other man. "I thought you said she would be safer if I didn't get her involve."

Ruka, who had been having her head down, slowly raised her head up to look at who her brother was talking to. The voice sounded so familiar, but she was too tired to place it. When she got a good look at the silver hair and red eyes man, she would have gasped in surprise if not for the pain.

"What is he doing here?" whispered Ruka, but loud enough for both parties to hear.

"It's a bit of a long story. I'll explain when you're well and rested," said Rua, glancing to the side at his sister as he kept supporting her.

Just then, another portal showed itself in the room. Out from it, came a bald head man with tan skin. He didn't look overjoyed by the looks of things.

"Drats! I was almost caught!" said Demak, irritation evident. He then turned his attention to Aporia. "We'll have to come up with a new plan. He's too well guarded for me to get to."

"And what is he doing here?!" said Ruka, voice barely raised higher. She turned her head in Rua's direction with a shock and somewhat scared look on her face. Boy, does he have some explaining to do.

A/N: I figured you guys were entitled to an actual Duel, considering the last two chapters were psych-outs. I didn't explain it last time, but I will be going by anime effects if they exist. Also, I will be calling cards by their original names if I can find them. For example: Pot of Greed will be called Jar of Greed.

I'll admit that I may not have written Ruka as well as I could have, but I was trying to think about how she would act in this chapter. Let's be honest, she not going to act like her usual self after hearing about Rua's death.

It's probably cheep to reunite the twins within a day's worth, but if the show itself can do it (episodes 83-84) then we think we should be entitled to do so for at least one chapter.

I base Demak's skills in stealth out of nothing.


	9. Explanation and resolve: Ruka's choice!

Chapter 8: Explanation and resolve: Ruka's choice!

Ruka found herself in a new room, laying on a soft bed with her head on a pillow. She didn't know where this room was anymore than she knew where Rua had just taken them. All that she could figure out right now is that her brother was working with Demak and Aporia; the thought of him being the embodiment of despair, Placido, had crossed her mind, but there was no infinity patch on his right eye like last time. When she asked what the two men where doing in the same place as them, Rua simply asked Aporia to give her a room to rest in just before the silver hair man pressed a series of buttons on what looked like a bracelet of his. A door to another room was soon in front of them, and her brother walked the two of them into the room before gently putting her on the bed, which she is now currently laying on. Rua told her only moments ago that he would be back, just before he left her in the mysterious room all by herself. Ruka couldn't help but wonder what was going on. She was confused, frightened, and so very tired. As much as she would like to stay awake and think about how and why her brother is involved in all of this, her body was demanding rest thanks to her latest Duel.

Speaking of Rua: he is at this moment, talking to the two older men in what he assumes is the main room of where ever they are. Judging by the arms crossed in front of his chest, and the disdain look he was giving, it was easy to tell that the young man was not happy. Of course, none of them were at this moment.

"Alright, Rua," said Aporia in the smoothes manner he could manage in order to ease any tension there might be. "Tell me exactly what happened."

"I told you," said Rua in slight irritation of having to repeat himself. "She was attacked by people working with Malik."

"Yes, I heard that, but how was she attacked?" said Aporia, his voice unwavering. "What did you see that caused her to receive those injuries?"

"I would imagine exactly what you would expect," said Rua, receiving a raised eyebrow from the man of the future. "They were Dueling, and the damage became real."

"You're sure about this?" said Aporia, both eyebrows raised in slight surprise as he received a nod of confirmation. "I was hoping that he wouldn't use such technology in this time period. He knows just like anyone else that it is forbidden to use unless under dire situations."

"Well, it's not like we haven't seen the damage in Duels become real before," said Rua, just before relaxing his arms a little while still keeping them against his chest. "We've survived stuff like that plenty of times…so to speak. What I want to know is who's the one mind-controlling all these people."

"What do mean by 'mind-controlling'?" said Demak, reminding the other two men that he was among them.

"Back at the prison, when that guy was on the verge of literally exploding, a different voice came out of his mouth. It said 'It will end before it even begins'. Whatever that's supposed to mean," said Rua with a slight shrug from his shoulders. "Then the woman that Ruka just Dueled did the same thing before blowing up."

"Just why were they Dueling her anyways?" said Aporia, one hand under his chin in a thinking position.

"Whoever it was, said they were trying to lure me out of hiding, so they could finish me off," said Rua as he looked down at the floor in thought. "How did they even know that I was alive?"

"I'm not sure, but I suppose Malik could have used a hidden camera and watched some live feeds of us before the place fell down on itself," said Aporia, still in a thinking position. "The chances of that are slim, but that's the only thing that makes sense right now."

"Great, so because you weren't able to check for any hidden cameras, my sister was used as live bait!" said Rua, his face hardening as he stared at Aporia. "If you would have just let me tell her, she would have been able to avoid this."

"If you had told her, then your other friends would have no doubt become suspicious of her behavior at the mention of your death, and thus so would have Malik. Which would have put her in more peril, because they would think she would know where you're at," said Aporia in nearly one breath.

"Well, we should at least tell the others," said Rua, arms dropping to his sides. "Malik and whoever he's working for are sure to go after them next."

"Not likely," said Aporia, arms folded in front of his chest in a relax manner. "Your other friends are a force to be reckoned with compared to your sister; no offence," receiving a light glare from the green hair ponytail man. "Not to mention, Malik would know that if anyone of them were to go missing, it could cause a panic throughout the world, which is something he won't risk…excuse me, but did you say that Malike was working for someone?"

"Yeah, and they said their master wanted me dead," said Rua, giving a look of curiousness. "They made no mention of the others, and even said they didn't care if Ruka's alive or dead. What makes me so special that they would go through all this trouble in killing me? Aporia, just what is it?"

"I don't know for certain," said Aporia, briefly closing his eyes in thought before reopening them again. "I had thought Malik was the one running things, but it seems that I was wrong. I'll need a little time to think about what they're planning. In the meantime, do what you will around here as long as it doesn't involve leaving; we can't have people questioning how you survived that explosion at the prison yet."

With that, Rua walked back towards the room he had left his sister in. It wasn't like he was going to get anymore answers, and his sister's probably worry about what's going on. Who can blame her? Not even Aporia, the guy from the future, understands what's going on entirely.

"You already know why they want that boy dead, don't you?" said Demak, bringing Aporia out of his thought.

"I have theories, but no facts," said Aporia, solemnly. "And I cannot share these theories with him in fear of the effects it could have on the timeline."

"If Malik has already began to change things, then what does it matter now if you share your knowledge with the boy?" said Demak with one of his hands held out with his palm facing upwards. "Surely, it can't be that significant."

"Significant or not, no one should have any knowledge of what lies ahead in their future," said Aporia, eyes narrowing in thought. "Besides the risk of changing the outcome of future events, it could change that person drastically."

"Well, we wouldn't want him to get an ego from it, now would we," said Demak, giving a small smirk at the thought.

"Him getting an ego is the last thing I would expect," said Aporia, glancing at the bald man who was giving him a curious look. "On another subject; how did you get back here?"

"What do you mean?" said Demak, looking at the other man as though he was acting strange. "You gave me a keycard in order to return here, remember?"

"You didn't give it to Rua?" said Aporia, raising one eyebrow at the revelation.

"Why would I do that?" said Demak as his eyes focused more on Aporia than it had been thus far. "Just what is going through that head of yours?"

Aporia didn't hear Demak's last question; he was too occupied by his own thoughts. He was sure that Rua hadn't gotten away with one of his still working keycards when he went in search of his sister, but then how could he have returned with her? Aporia had considered the possibility of them running into Demak and just using the same portal as him, but now that he thinks of it, Demak came through a second portal right after the twins. It would appear that there's more than just what Malik is up to that demands attention. It might be good to do a quick recount of how many usable keycards he has left; it was most likely a miscount anyways.

"If you'll excuse me, I'll be in my quarters," said Aporia before walking off in another room that appeared after pressing some buttons on his bracelet-like item.

"I repeat, just what is going through that head of yours?" said Demak, quietly as he looked on in suspicion.

Moments after Rua had entered the room he had left Ruka in, he found her sound asleep. He had, at first, started to worry, but he calmed down relatively fast after seeing she was breathing normally. Despite the fact that she was safe now, apart of him was wondering if he could have stopped this all together. He could have told her about his encounter with Aporia in an alleyway; screw the effect it would have on the time line! If he had, then, then, then…he wasn't sure what, but he was convinced that it would have turned out better than this. Anything that didn't involve her getting hurt would have been better.

"Then again, I wasn't sure if I believed it at the time," whispered Rua as he stared down at Ruka's sleeping form.

He then slowly sat down on the edge of the bed, so as not to abruptly wake her. He just continued to stare at her, hoping she would be alright soon. She had always been frail when growing up, and had spent most of her childhood inside. After the fight against the Dark Signers, however, she started going out more and even became a little less frail as time went on. No matter how much time had past though, Rua would always be concern about his sister's well being.

Ruka had begun to stir in her sleep before her twin had put one hand against her cheek, and started caressing it gently. She then relaxed from the touch, and in fact pressed against the inviting hand. A small smile graced the young man as he witnessed this action. They had always sought comfort in each other growing up, and now was no different.

As he let her head lay against his hand, he moved his head slowly towards her. He moved closer and closer, until they were mere inches from each other. He was tempted, so very tempted to just take his chance right here and now. With that thought going through his head, he pressed his lips on her forehead before slowly backing away and taking his hand back as he stood up. Not exactly what he was thinking about, but it was probably a better call.

"I'm sorry," whispered Rua, more to himself than to Ruka. "I wish I could be a better brother than this."

For the next several hours, he would lay against a wall and think to himself. It wasn't long after all that thinking that his twin began to stir again, but this time she had awoken. She had lifted the upper half of her body up before turning the rest of her body, and planting her feet on the ground and letting a sigh escape her lips.

"Are you feeling better?" said Rua as he approached the waking young lady.

"Yeah, I'm alright," said Ruka, giving a soft smile to ease any worry he may have.

The smile dissipated, however, as she gave her brother a serious look. When she had woken up seconds ago, Ruka had thought for one moment that it had all been a horrible dream, but she sadly didn't recognize where she was at. There were so many questions she had to ask right now.

"Where are we?" said Ruka, eyes never leaving her brother's.

"I don't know," said Rua with a shrug of his shoulders. Based off of his sister's expression, it was obvious that she was expecting more. "Aporia just brought me and Demak here last night. He hasn't explained where we are."

"About him…"said Ruka as her eyes downcast and her voice trailed off for but a moment. She didn't look up, but she knew that Rua was giving her a look of worry and curiosity. "Why is he here? And why are you with him? Aporia, I mean."

"He said that he was trying to apprehend someone from his timeline that came here before that guy could cause any major changes to happen in the future," said Rua, sounding a bit hesitant as he continued, which Ruka took note of as she raised her head and stared at him questionably. "He told me all of this the day before yesterday."

"Rua…" began Ruka in a voice that almost sounded like hurt and betrayal to Rua. In all likelihood though, she was just more surprised and worried than before.

"I know I should have told you, but I told Aporia I wouldn't tell anyone, and he said it was better if I didn't get involved, so I didn't say anything because I thought that was the end of it, but then I did get involved when my D-Wheel went out of controlled and I got sent to prison where Aporia broke me and Demak out and then said he had no choice but to let me help him, and then said it was better if I didn't tell you that I was alive because that might make you a target, but you became a target anyways and you got hurt and I'm really, really sorry, Ruka," said Rua in one long breath.

After her brother had paused to finally catch his breath, Ruka was still processing everything he had revealed in under a minute. When she was finally able to grasp everything he had just said, things started to make a bit more sense about her twin's behavior when he came home and when they woke up the next morning.

"Rua, I'm not angry. I'm not even disappointed," said Ruka, receiving a surprise and grateful look from her brother. "I understand that you didn't want me hurt, and that you were told not to tell anyone. I even understand that you only truly got involved last night."

"Still though, you shouldn't have gotten hurt at all," said Rua with disappointment in his voice, directing it directly to himself. "I should have been able to stop it from happening at all."

"Rua, we've been through this," said Ruka, giving Rua a look of exasperation. "I'm a grown woman now, and I don't need you to be there for me all the time. Don't get the wrong idea. I appreciate it now just as much as I always have. But we both know that you can't always be there for me, and I do need to be able to protect myself at least once in a while."

"I know," said Rua before letting out a sigh. "And I do my best to not be overprotective of you, but when things like this happens, it's hard not to.

"Believe me, Rua, you have never been overprotective of me," said Ruka, letting out a small laugh. "You've always thought about my well being before your own, and even let me try to do things on my own, per my request. That's one of the things I love about you, Rua."

"Yeah, well, I try," said Rua with a light blush appearing on his cheeks before turning away and rubbing the back of his head sheepishly, making his twin giggle at his action.

"Rua," said Ruka, gaining her brother's attention as he turned back and looked at her. "I know you just told me why Aporia is here, but why is…why is 'he' here?"

It wasn't hard for Rua to understand who "he" was. He was just as shock and upset at seeing the former Dark Signer's face as his sister was when he first saw him in prison. He still didn't like the idea of being around him. He especially didn't like the idea of the guy being around his sister.

"Aporia said that he needed his stealth in order to help capture Malik, who's apparently from the future," said Rua, arms folded in front of him. "Unfortunately, he wasn't able to catch the guy."

"Can we even trust him?" said Ruka, body shaking a bit nervously. "After what he did, after what he tried to do, can we really trust him?"

"I don't know for sure, but maybe," said Rua, receiving a surprise look from Ruka. "I'm still upset about what he did too, but that all happened ten years ago. He doesn't even seem to remember either of us, and for all I know, he may not remember any of the stuff that happened when he was a Dark Signer just like Carly didn't."

"But he was in prison, right?" said Ruka with her right hand rubbing her left arm to ease her nerves. "That means he must have done something wrong, shouldn't it?"

"Maybe, but when I found him, he was getting beaten on by this guard relentlessly while being questioned about something. He didn't even try to fight back," said Rua with a slight edge to his voice from remembering what happened last night. "And all of this taking place during a prison riot."

"I guess he could have changed somewhat for the better after all these years," said Ruka, her eyes once again looking down. "But I don't think I can forgive him for what he did, even if he may not remember it,"

"We probably won't have to deal with it for long," said Rua with optimism and a shrug from his shoulders. "I'm sure Aporia will figure something out, and then everything will be okay again."

"Hmm…I hope you're right," said Ruka with a trace of doubt as her right hand gently squeezed her left arm.

The two just stayed where they were, just waiting, just thinking; unsure of what to do next. Hours past by as the siblings continued to talk to one another, but they were soon cutoff guard by Aporia's voice surrounding the room out of nowhere.

"Rua, Ruka," echoed Aporia's voice around the room. "I need you two to come in the main room this instance! There's something we need to discuss."

There were no speakers as far as either of them could tell, but they decided to worry about that later. In the meantime, they went on their way to see what the silver hair man wanted.

Upon entering the original room they first entered in, aka the main room, they were met with a very stressed looking Aporia in front of them. He gave the twins a look over, and gestured for them to come over. Once they were almost within reaching distance from each other, the eldest of the three closed his eyes briefly and took a deep breath through his nostrils before beginning to talk.

"I assume I don't need to repeat myself over how it would be complicated at the moment to just send you back, Rua, when we don't have a reason to give everyone for how you're alive without revealing too much," said Aporia, staring at the man in question before switching his eyes over to the one female in the room. "Ruka, however, is another story. She has to go back as soon as possible."

"What are you talking about?" said Rua, head tilted in confusion. "She was near an explosion, just like I was. People are going to think she's dead as well. Won't there be questions for her as well?"

"Not necessarily," said Aporia, quickly as the young man before him made an audible "huh" sound. "There is confirmed evidence that you were in that prison during the time of the explosion, so that complicate things. Your sister on the other hand," tilting his head towards Ruka. "Has nothing to worry about."

"But what if someone saw her near the explosion just before she vanished here?" said Rua, shaking his left and right in rapid succession. "Wouldn't they be able to identify her?"

"There's more than one woman with green hair, so I don't think you'll have to worry about that," said Aporia in a dull manner. "It could be easily assumed that it was someone else that people saw disappearing in that explosion, given that there is no physical evidence of it being her that they saw."

"What if someone happened to have a video camera out, and just recorded the whole thing?" said Rua rather quickly.

"Rua, that kind of thing only happens on TV," said Aporia, eyebrows lowered in disappointment at hearing such a suggestion. "Besides, it took place in an alleyway, didn't it? If that's the case, then the chances are very likely that nobody paid much attention until the explosion took place."

"But what about the whole thing about our friends becoming suspicious of her behavior at the mention of my death? And Malik thinking she would know where I'm at?" said Rua in crossed voice as he folded his arms in front of his chest. "Malik probably does know that she knows where I'm at now, wherever here is, and will definitely go after her again."

"Ruka will take the earliest flight out of the country, and simply tell the others that she needs to be away from Neo Domino City for a while if they are to asks," said Aporia such a simple manner. "As for Malik; he knows I'm making my move to capture him, so he'll be more occupied with that than he will be looking for Ruka."

"I'm not going anywhere," said Ruka, almost sharply as she wasn't thrilled being left out of this important conversation.

"Ruka, you have to," sigh Aporia, expecting her to be easier to deal with than her twin. "It will be hard enough to come up with a reason for your brother's survival without anyone becoming too suspicious of the story. If you go missing, so soon after his 'death' no less, then that will just complicate things even more."

"I don't care. I'm not letting Rua do any of this on his own," said Ruka, firmly as her brother gave her a small smile to thank her with. "Besides, Yusei and the others will probably think that I just don't want to talk to anyone," now looking down in remorse. "I said some things that I'm not proud of."

"Very well," said Aporia as he practically let out a sigh of frustration, while Rua looked at Ruka in concern. "I suppose that does give a good enough excuse for why the others will not be seeing you for who knows how long. And I guess with that in mind, it really doesn't matter if you stay here or not."

"Thank you," the twins said as one with small smiles on their faces.

"Of course, that's not all I wanted to discuss with you," said Aporia, causing the only other two people besides himself in the room to look at him in curiousness. "I needed to go over your part of the plan, Rua."


	10. Dangerous Night of Distractions

A/N: We apologize for taking long with the chapter. We're trying to do our very best to keep the characters IC, and not screw them over like so many other people do. We're also doing our best to make sure that what we write next doesn't contradict what we have written so far, or what we are planning to write for the future. Also, my finals at college were a pain, so that took up quite a bit of my time.

Chapter 9: Dangerous Night of Distractions

In a place where the walls were white and no windows could be found, a place that seems to be easy to leave but hard to get to, there were two figures within the room. The two figures were in fact Rua and Ruka, still staying at the unknown place that they were brought to by Aporia but in another room. Ruka was standing up with her arms crossed as she observed her brother, who was crouched down and looking at something himself. That something was a D-Wheel that Aporia had been working on for the next mission.

"Rua," began Ruka in slight exasperation. "You've been staring at it for the past half hour."

"I know, but you have to admit that it looks awesome," said Rua as he barely touched the machine with one hand. "Though I'm not sure brass is really my color."

The mechanical work was a thing of beauty. Two stander size wheels like most D-Wheels have, a windshield that reaches a person's midsection when sitting down, and the handles were found near the body of the vehicle at waist length apart from each other. There even appeared to be two armguards-like-things that covered the outer parts of the handles all the way up to a person's elbow. Yusei would be proud.

"Forget about the color," said Ruka with a slight frown and slanted eyebrows. "Do you really think you'll be able to do this?"

"Aporia said that this D-Wheel he made here should run interference with any electronical system in a one mile radius," said Rua, turning his head in Ruka's direction. "While that's happening, Demak will sneak in and take the blueprints or whatever to some new project in the lab that Malik needs."

"That's what I'm talking about," said Ruka, worry in her voice. "Are you sure you're okay with messing up the security systems to one of the top labs in the world, while helping someone break in and steal something?"

"I don't see why not," said Rua as he stood up and fully faced his sister. "I broke into that garage that Bommer kept his D-Wheel in all those years ago after all."

"But you weren't planning on stealing or sabotaging anything when you decided to break in," said Ruka, arms now unfolded and laying to her sides. "This is different. You won't just be helping Demak sneak in and get what Aporia told him to get; you'll also be putting a lot of other important critical work on hold for who knows how long even after they get their systems working again."

"Yeah, I know, "sighed Rua before rubbing the back of his head with his right hand. "I guess I just wanted to convince myself that I was okay with this. I want to help catch Malik, especially after what he and his allies did, but I hate the fact that we'll pretty much be ruining other peoples' hard work as well. Unfortunately, Aporia said that this was our best option at the moment, and that he would be very close in apprehending Malik after this."

"I guess there's not much choice," said Ruka, gravely. "Malik, and whoever he's working with, are both very dangerous people. You and I both nearly died because of them, and I don't want our friends' life being risked either."

"Don't worry. It will all be over soon, and things can go back to normal," said Rua, smiling in a reassuring manner. "We waited over a week, so we just have to wait a few more days after this. Aporia even started coming up with an explanation three days ago on where I've been this whole time!"

"He really does seem to know what he's doing," said Ruka, reminiscing their time here. "He was able to make you that new D-Wheel in one night, and still work on his layouts of the plans with everyone," her expression soon became one of concern. "But I'm still not sure about Demak."

"I know that guy has that look about him, and I don't like it either," said Rua, arms folded as he looked down in concentration. "But he hasn't really done anything that wrong as far as we've seen. I keep trying to tell myself that he may not be all that bad like we thought, just so it will be easier to work with him, but it's hard when someone leaves a big impression like he did all those years ago."

"I hope Yusei and the others can forgive me for the impression I left them with," said Ruka, a frown forming on her face as she cast her eyes downwards. This caused her brother to look straight at her in concern.

"They understand, Ruka." said Rua with much confidence. "You were upset over what you and the others thought happened, so I'm sure they know you didn't mean any of it"

"I told Yusei I blamed him, and that I never wanted to talk to him again," said Ruka, sadly. "I feel terrible about it."

"It's okay, Ruka," said Rua as he gently placed his hands on her shoulders, causing the young woman to look up at him. "If Yusei can forgive an old friend for trying to kill him, then I'm sure he can just as easily forgive you for blaming him for my death."

"Thanks, Rua," said Ruka as she enveloped her twin in a hug before he returned the favor. "Just be careful when you go out tonight. Make sure you don't get into any trouble."

"I'll be back before you know it," said Rua, giving her a small grin as the two of them let go of each other. "I did say don't worry."

As the two just stood there, smiling at one another in comfort, Aporia's voice surrounded the room and gave Rua the call that it was time to put the plan in motion. With that being said, Rua took a brown helmet that was laying on top of the D-Wheel and placed it over his head. Like his previous helmet, this one also had a full-face visor so that no one could see any parts of his face; something that Aporia seems to have conveniently found in the junkyard, but people have thrown out more valuable items before.

Rua then got on the D-Wheel, and started visualizing a door in front of him as well as his destination. He revved up the engine, gave his sister a nod for bye, and sped off. The moment the machine touched the door, it and him both simply vanished without the door ever opening. The door itself, faded away a few seconds after; leaving Ruka alone in the room.

The young woman brought her right hand up to her chin as she rested her left one under her right elbow. Her look became one of worry once again. Who wouldn't be though? There are number of possibilities that could happen. Unfortunately, worrying doesn't do any good in this situation, so it would be better to find something to distract herself with somewhat.

With that in mind, Ruka tried to explore all of the rooms she's been to already in this…whatever it was; tried being the keyword. There wasn't much to explore, however, when each room was completely empty aside from maybe a bed. After coming in to the main room, assuming so anyways, she let out a brief sigh from failing at taking her mind off her worries.

"You seem distraught," said what could only be Aporia's voice. This caused the young woman to blink her eyes a few times, and turn around to be greeted by Aporia standing close to one of the walls of the room. "You're worried that something may happen to him again."

"I have faith that he'll be back," said Ruka before looking down at her hands. "But, I can't help but be afraid of what or who he may run into."

"I have met many people like you, Ruka," said Aporia, causing the green hair woman to look at him. "You have much faith in your brother, and yet you still worry about his wellbeing. To believe in someone, and yet be afraid for them, is possibly the best anyone can do."

"Rua's always taken care of me since I could remember, no matter what it took" said Ruka, sincerely as she softly smiled at the memories. "He's never let me down before, and this time won't be any different."

"Hmm," hummed Aproria as he brought one of his hands to his chin in a thinking manner, while continuing to look straight at Ruka. "There's something about your eyes."

"What about my eyes?" said Ruka, taken aback by the change of subject.

"When you talked about your brother, they had this look about them," said Aporia, trying to place the exact words for it. "I can't place it, but they looked familiar."

"Well, let's not talk about my eyes. If Rua was here, hearing you say something like that, he may get the wrong idea," said Ruka, trying to change the subject as a tinge of pink formed on her cheeks. The plan seems to be working, if the older man's eyes' blinking in rapid succession before shaking his head was any giveaway. "Is there anything I can help with? The more I worry, the longer it feels."

"I guess there's something you can do," said Aporia with something simple in mind to help ease the young woman's stress. Ruka gave a small grateful smile, and nodded her thanks.

While that was taking place, Rua was riding around in circles at least half a mile away from Neo Domino lab. True, the interference from his new D-wheel would work on any electronical system within a one mile radius, but this way it didn't matter if he went off a few feet or not.

He was feeling so alive driving on a D-Wheel again. The excitement, the speed, the rush of wind that blew past him due to his speed, but he reminded himself that he had something important that he had to do and not to get sidetracked. He knew that while he was outside riding around, Demak was inside Neo Domino lab looking for something that involves some project that Malik needs. If Rua were to go way off course, then the security system would start working again and pick up Demak, and thus ruin the plan.

'Come on, you just have to drive for at least half an hour, and then go back,' thought Rua, turning another of the same corners for probably the fourth time that night.

Just as he finished that thought in his head, a D-Wheel with the colors dark green and brown overlapping each other drove up to Rua's right side. The rider himself was covered in the same pattern scheme as his ride, and wore a helmet with a visor that only went down to his eyes.

"Duel me," said the man in a commanding voice, never turning his head in Rua's direction. Rua, on the other hand, was in shock from seeing what was next to him. How was this guy able to ride his D-Wheel so close when Rua's was suppose to be running interference with ever electronical equipment in a one mile radius? Guess Aporia made it where D-Wheels aren't affected by it.

"Sorry, I have to be somewhere soon," said Rua, quickly putting his eyes back on the road.

"I wasn't asking," said the man in a deep voice as he brought his finger closer to a button of his vehicle. "Speed World 2, set on!"

"What?!" said Rua in surprise, hearing those worlds not only come out of the man's voice, but both of their rides as well. "I thought only the police had that kind of thing. Where did he get it?"

"We won't be Riding-Dueling in a Duel-lane, boy" said the man, causing Rua to give a brief "huh?" sound. Smirking, the man continued to say. "We'll be doing so without one."

On that note, walls of gray color light appeared parallel to their left and right side. The path before them seemed to be close to the lab still. Not like it matters though. Aporia said that the D-Wheel couldn't run interference if it was in a Riding-Duel; said it takes too much power away from it.

The two males struggled to get to the next corner before the other one to see who would take the first turn, but the D-Wheel customized by Aporia didn't seem to be built for speed like the opposing one. As one would expect from seeing the display of speed, Rua was left to go second after they both turned the corner.

"Duel!" cried out both men.

(Mystery Rider LP: 4,000: Rua LP: 4,000)

"The names Luke, and I'll be the last person you'll ever see," said the man now dubbed as Luka, placing one of his hands on the top card of his deck in preparation for his draw phase. "My Turn! Draw!"

(Luke: LP 4,000 Rua: LP 4,000  
SC: 1/1  
Hand 6/5  
Deck 34/35)

"I summon Machiners Soldier in attack mode!" said Luke, placing the card on the top part of the Duel-Disk attached to the D-Wheel.

(Machiners Soldier

4 stars effect monster

Earth Attribute

Machine type

ATK 1,600 DEF 1,500)

To the right of the overlapping dark green and brown vehicle materialized a humanoid type robot. Its exoskeleton was gray and metallic as one would expect, while the parts that would be consider armor to a human were a deep green. They covered from the kneecap to the ankle, from the wrist to the elbows, shoulder guards, the torso, and even the head looked as though it was wearing a helmet. Unlike the left hand, which looked like a regular robotic hand, the right one was in the form of a giant blade. In the dead center of its head was one red eye, scanning its adversary.

"When Machiners Soldier is normal summoned while I control no other monsters, I can special summon another Machiners monster from my hand except for Machiners Soldier," said Luke as he grabbed one of his other cards in his hand before placing it in the monster card zone. "I special summon Machiners Fortress in attack mode!"

(Machiners Fortress

7stars effect monster

Earth Attribute

Machine type

ATK 2,500 DEF 1,600)

To the left of Luke's D-Wheel rode a blue tank-like robot. It had a tank treads on its left and right side, and a smaller one in front of itself in the middle. At the top of its two bigger tank treads were its arms and hands; the hands themselves looked like they were completely still and couldn't move a finger besides the thumbs. In the center of its body was the head with two eyes; one looking like a scope to take better aim with. On what one could assume was its left shoulder-blade was an energy cannon of moderate proportion.

"A monster with 2,500 attack points already?!" said Rua, observing the stats of the monster as he watched it actually ride alongside its owners ride as oppose to being in the air. It was even leaving tracks! "Just great."

"I place two cards face-down and end my turn," said Luke, placing two cards in the spell/trap card slots. They appeared face-down for a brief moment before they became transparent.

"My turn! Draw!" said Rua, drawing the first card from the top of his deck as he and his opponent both passed by some tall buildings.

(Luke: LP 4,000 Rua: LP 4,000  
SC: 2/2  
Hand 2/6  
Deck 34/34)

"I activate the Speed Spell-Angel Baton!" said Rua, putting the card in the spell/trap card zone for this one turn. "When I have two or more Speed Counters I draw two cards, then send one card from my hand to the grave. Next I summon Deformer-Mobaphon in attack mode!"

(Deformer-Mobaphon  
1 star effect monster  
Earth attribute  
Machine type  
ATK 100 DEF 100)

Hovering next to the brass color D-Wheel was a yellow cell-phone that began to shift and change. The bottom half with the dials on it started to separate into arms and legs until the only dials in the middle were the answer key, the hang up button, and the numbers 1-6. The top half with the screen split in half and formed shoulder pads. Behind the screen was a head with two antennas on where the ears would be.

"When Mobaphon's in attack mode, the dials on his chest light up. Whatever number the light lands on is the number of cards I get to pick up from my deck. And if there are any Deformer monsters among those cards, I can special summon one of them," explained Rua before extending his right arm out as though he was giving a signal to charge. "Go! Dial On!"

The numbers on Mobaphon's chest lit up at random. It went on and on until the light eventually landed and stayed on 3, thus that was the number of cards Rua was allowed to see from the top of his deck.

"Alright, I summon Deformer – Radicassen in defense mode!" said Rua after putting the other two cards back into his deck, which was automatically shuffled by the Duel-Disk itself.

(Deformer – Radicassen

4 stars effect monster

Earth Attribute

Machine type

ATK 1,200 DEF 400)

On the other side of Rua and his ride was a red radio cassette player hovering in the air.

"Continuous trap! Cyber Summon Blaster!" said Luke, revealing one of his two face-downs. Appearing right behind him now was a machine about the fourth of the size of a D-Wheel riding on the ground with tank treads, and a lamp-shaped type cannon on top. "Each time one or more Machine type monster is special summoned, my opponent receives 300 points of damage."

The cannon part of the machine turned to the left where Rua was, and started building up an electrical current within itself. Electricity was swirling around and around as it built up more and more in the lamp-shaped cannon, until it finally released everything in a small voltage towards the brass colored D-Wheel and its rider.

(Luke: LP 4,000 Rua: LP 3,700  
SC: 2/2  
Hand 2/5  
Deck 34/31)

The shock had Rua gritting his teeth, and tensing his muscles in slight pain. It was a small amount of damage, so it wasn't anywhere near as bad as past experience with these kinds of Duels.

"I place two cards face-down and end my turn," said Rua, placing two cards in the spell/trap card zone. They appeared face-down for a brief moment before they became transparent.

"My Turn! Draw!" said Luke as he drew the first card from the top of his deck.

(Luke: LP 4,000 Rua: LP 3,700  
SC: 3/3  
Hand 3/3  
Deck 33/31)

"Trap card open! Blen Deform!" said Rua, revealing one of his two face-downs. "If I control two or more face-up Deformer monsters, I select two cards my opponent controls. My opponent then chooses which one of the two cards to be destroyed. I choose Machiners Soldier and Machiners Fortress!"

The young green haired Riding-Duelist was most likely making the best choice on selecting the two cards. The face-down could be anything, even a bluff. More than half of his monsters are Machine type, but he could afford to take 300 points of damage for a few special summons or so. His best bet was to decrease the number of monsters on his opponent field so that he had a better chance at surviving the battle phase. It was most likely going to be the weaker of the two chosen to be destroyed, but it doesn't matter.

"Hmm…easy call," said Luke, smirking in a way that said he was ready for this. "I choose Machiners Fortress!"

"What?!" said Rua in utter shock, having not expected the stronger of the two monsters to be chosen to get axed off by its controller.

Mobaphon hovered over to the red radio cassette player on the other side of its master, and picked it up and cranked up the volume before holding it up high in the air. The sound was so loud that the tank-like robot was starting to crack from the sheer force of it until it broke into pieces. After that was over and done with, the yellow robot turned the volume down and set the radio cassette player down in the air.

"Next I summon Machiners Gearframe in attack mode!" said Luke, playing the card on the field as he and his adversary made a sharp turn to the right.

(Machiners Gearframe

4 stars union monster

Earth Attribute

Machine type

ATK 1,800 DEF 0)

To the left side of Luke materialized another humanoid type robot. Its color was a majority of orange, but there was a bit of white along with it. Its arms were as thin as a person's four fingers put together, while the wrists looked to be heavily covered in orange armor. Its fingers were in the same position as a skill claw machine would be in, and in the center of each hand was a hole that one would expect fire to burst out of. On the outer side of each ankles were what looked to be airplane-wings. The head appeared to be wearing an orange helmet that one would see a fighter pilot have on, while below its visor was a mouth giving a victorious smile.

"Union monster…" said Rua in amazement.

"You act as though you've never seen one before," said Luke, his smirk never leaving.

"I've heard of them, but I've never seen one in a Riding-Duel before," said Rua as he continued staring at the monster.

"What a shame," mocked Luke, causing the young rider to scrunch his eyebrows at him; not that it could be seen through the full-face visor though. "This will be your last time then. When Machiners Gearframe is normal summoned, I can add one Machiners monster, except Machiners Gearframe, from my deck to my hand," as he said this, his deck ejected a card out of his choosing before he grabbed it and added it to his hand. The deck was then automatically reshuffled by the Duel-Disk. "Now I'll send the just recently acquired level eight Machiners Cannon to the grave in order to special summon my Machiners Fortress back from the grave in attack mode!"

(Machiners Fortress

7stars effect monster

Earth Attribute

Machine type

ATK 2,500 DEF 1,600)

The tank-like robot had returned to the field, but this time to the front of its controller.

"Fortess can be special summoned from my grave or hand by discarding any number of Machine type monsters that equal at least eight stars," said Luke, enjoying the scene of his opponent's grip tightening from frustration. "Now the effect of Cyber Summon Blaster activates once more!"

The cannon part of the machine turned towards Rua once again, and gathered up electrical energy before firing it at him.

(Luke: LP 4,000 Rua: LP 3,400  
SC: 3/3  
Hand 2/3  
Deck 32/31)

"Next I activate the Speed Spell-Defense Buster!" said Luke as he played the card for this one turn. "When I have two or more Speed Counters, a defense position monster of my choosing is switched to face-up attack position. The only monster I see in defense right now is on your side, so I guess that means your Radicassen is it."

The radio cassette player started to shift and change. The lower half maneuvered around until its legs were released from its own hold. Then both sides of its upper half began to shift away from the rest of itself until arms appeared. Finally, where one would put a CD in ejected a basic robot head at the top with the CD player serving as a type of helmet.

"I know Radicassen has an attack-negating effect while in defense mode, so I'm not going to let it get in my way," said Luke, making another sharp turn along with Rua. "Machiners Fortress, attack Deformer-Mobaphon!"

As the energy cannon on the tank-like robot started to build up power, Rua was contemplating what to do.

'I can negate his attack with my face-down, and change Mobaphon to defense at the same time,' thought Rua, his grip tightening and eyes narrowing from the dilemma he realized he was in. 'But that won't stop his next two attacks, and my field will be empty if I let the next attacks through. Letting him destroy Mobaphon will cost me more Life Points, but I can at least save Radicassen for my coming turn.'

Just as Rua had thought of his resolution, the energy beam was ready and fired at great speed and force. The yellow robot never stood a chance as the beam obliterated it as though it were a fly.

(Luke: LP 4,000 Rua: LP 1,000  
SC: 3/3  
Hand 1/3  
Deck 32/31)

The forced of the attack caused Rua to struggle to keep control as his D-Wheel span around in circles, until he could right himself again. His arms were still shaking from the after shock of the attack as his grip tightened. His blue shirt now had small tears on multiple areas along with small wounds that could be seen through said tears. However, Rua wasn't the only one that was having problems.

At the same time that the Riding-Duel started, the security at Neo Domino lab has been on high alert due to sensing unknown personnel in the building. Demak was too busy hiding around every corner to try to get the plans to the project as fast as he could. The security cameras were back on, so he had to time his movement just right so as not to be caught on them. Eventually, he finally managed to make it into the room that Aporia had told him where he would find what he was looking for, and shut the door quietly behind himself. Though, it would appear that he was not alone as he stared faced to face with a man, whose brown hair was so dark that it looked red, with the right side of his face covered by his hair. The man also seems to be wearing a gray business suit of some kind, and a gold colored Duel-Disk on his left arm.

"And just whom may you be?" said the man as he inspected Demak. "You're obviously not part of the security around here."

Demak's mind was slightly panicking as he worked on what he should say. He could tell by the other man's suit that he didn't work here, but that still gave him no clue to whom he was or if he was a threat. The bald man's eyes soon traveled to the other's hands, and he could clearly make-out a rolled up blueprint being held within the right fist. That had to be it! The rest of the place looked trashed, so those had to be the blueprints that Aporia sent him to get!

"Who I may be is none of your concern," said Demak in a low voice, discarding any subtleties he may have been working on. "Just give me the blueprints in your hand and I'll be on my way."

"And why would I do that?" said the man as he lifted his hand that was holding the object in question, leering at it with his one visible eye. "You think that I'm just going to hand over something this valuable simply because you want it? Sorry, but I'm afraid that this is best left in better hands; mine to be precise."

"If you don't give it to me willingly, then I'll take it by force!" said Demak, voice becoming rougher with each word he spoke. His fist were clenching tightly as his brow furrowed.

"While I'm sure you must have big plans for this thing, I'm afraid that I just don't care what they are," said the man in the gray suit, stuffing the blueprint in his front pant's pocket. He reached for one of the cards in his deck that was being held by his Duel-Disk and placed it in the spell/trap card slot. "Fireball!"

Demak couldn't help but call his eyes liars as he gazed at a ball of fire hovering between him and the man. Once the fiery object started hurtling towards him, Demak dodged out of the way just in time to see a scorched mark on his previous location.

"You're a Psychic Duelist," growled Demak under his breath. Things have just become much harder.

"Nothing escapes your notice, does it," said the man in a sly manner, activating another Fireball spell card. Demak, once again, was able to avoid it. "You seem pretty calm compared to most people facing a Psychic Duelist."

"I've dealt with worst," retorted Demak as he tried to jump the man before another card could be played on his gold Duel-Disk, but missed as the man moved out of the way.

"Do tell," goaded the man in the gray suit. He put another card into the Duel-Disk, and extended his right arm straight out with his hand opened wide. "Ancient Ceremonial Telekinesis!"

"I've seen things you couldn't possibly imagine," said Demak, rolling out of the way of the ball of energy that the other man fired from his hand. "I've seen monsters and gods alike. The kinds that make your worst nightmare seem like nice dream in comparison!"

"I've seen the monsters and gods of this world," said the Psychic Duelist in a low voice, placing another card into the spell/trap card zone as he called out "Psycho Sword!" before a sword with a jagged greenish energy blade appeared in his right hand. "And no one, not even them, are going to stop me from achieving my ultimate objective!"

The man rushed in with his sword, but Demak managed to block it by picking up the chair in the room and using it as a shield with the underside facing away from him. The former Dark Signer was able to parry every one of the man's hacks and swings that were given out by the sword. However, when Demak tried to attack, the legs to the chair were sliced off and the serrated blade pierced right through the center of the seat, just inches away from his face. Seeing his chance, Demak used all his might to toss away what was left of the chair and the sword that was pierced in it, and punched the man in his left cheek.

As the Psychic Duelist slammed into a wall and slid down to the floor, the part of his hair that covered his right side flicked up for a brief moment. Anyone there could clearly make out the giant scar that covered the entire area.

Demak slowly walked up to the other man, an intimidating aura surrounding him. The man in the gray suit opened his eyes, and stared up and cursed in his mind.

"This isn't over. The Arcadia Movement will rise again!" cried the man as he quickly snatched another card from his deck and activated it. "Emergency Teleport!"

Demak tried to catch him as quick as he could, but the man vanished through a portal that appeared underneath him for a brief moment. It wasn't that the man got away that infuriated Demak; he could care less about him. It was the fact the man got away with what he, Demak, was trying to take in the first place.

"That boy better have a good reason for why the security came back on," growled Demak before walking up to a nearby wall and fetching out the keycard that Aporia gave him for the night. He pressed the object against the wall, and a white swirling vortex appeared then disappeared as soon as he entered through it.

Back at the Riding-Duel: Rua's eyes were narrowing in frustration as Luke gave off a victorious smirk. Despite the disadvantage that Rua found himself in, he knew that he could still survive this turn.

"Machiners Gearframe, attack Deformer – Radicassen!" said Luke as he and Rua made another turn around the corner on their D-Wheels.

The orange robot glided through the air as though it were a jet. It brought its right fist back, preparing to pummel the radio cassette player robot.

"Trap card open! Deform!" said Rua, revealing the last of his face-downs. "When a face-up Deformer monster I control is selected as an attack target, that attack is negated and the selected Deformer's battle position is changed.

As soon as Gearframe's fist was about to make contact, its attack was deflected by an invisible barrier and was sent jumping back to its master's side. At the same time, Radicassen transformed back into a radio cassette player.

"Well I guess there's no point in wasting my next attack when I know it's not going to go through, "said Luke in a way that told Rua that he was not perturbed by this at all. "I use Machiners Gearframe's effect as a union monster to combine with Machiners Fortress."

The orange robot jumped onto the cannon holder of the blue tank-like robot, and sat down.

"I end my turn," said Luke as both riders passed by some fancy looking stores.

"My turn! Draw!" said Rua as he drew the first card from the top of his deck.

(Luke: LP 4,000 Rua: LP 1,000  
SC: 4/4  
Hand 1/4  
Deck 32/30)

"I summon Deformer Remocon in attack mode!" said Rua, playing card on the monster card zone.

(Deformer Remocon

3 stars Tuner monster

Earth Attribute

Machine type

ATK 300 DEF 1,200)

A small whitish ipod-looking remote control appeared right next to Rua's other monster. Then arms and legs just sprang out of its sides, and green eyes flashed onto the screen above all the buttons.

"When Remocon's in attack mode, I can remove from play one Deformer monster from my graveyard and add another one from my deck to my hand with the same level," said Rua as he pressed a button on his new D-Wheel to eject one card out of his graveyard pile, and then set it in the hidden compartment inside the vehicle. "I remove Deformer-Mobaphon from play, and add Deformer Lighton to my hand," his deck ejected a card out of his choosing before he grabbed it and it added to his hand. The deck was then automatically reshuffled by the Duel-Disk. "Next I activate the Speed Spell-Summon Speeder! When I have four or more Speed Counters, I can special summon one level four or lower monster from my hand. I special summon Deformer Lighton in attack mode!"

(Deformer Lighton

1 star Tuner monster

Light Attribute

Machine type

ATK 200 DEF 200)

A blue hand-held spotlight with green and yellow stripe patterns surrounding the lens flashed onto the other side of the brass colored D-Wheel. The back of the spotlight dislocated and bent downwards before separating down the middle into two legs. Then two arms with silver shoulder-pads popped out of the sides behind the striped patterns, just before a head popped out on top as well.

"Cyber Summon Blaster's effect activates!" said Luke as the cannon to the machine behind him turned towards Rua once more, and gathered up electrical energy before firing it at him. Unlike the last few times, however, Lighton got in the way and absorbed the attack into its lens. "So you found a way to stop me from inflicting effect damage before summoning your dragon."

"I didn't just stop it," said Rua, for once gaining a confused expression from his opponent. "When Lighton's in attack mode, any effect damage that my opponent would inflict on me with their cards is instead inflicted to them."

The spot-light robot's lens started to flash on, becoming brighter in rapid succession until it hit the opposing Riding-Duelist with its light.

(Luke: LP 3,700 Rua: LP 1,000  
SC: 4/4  
Hand 1/2  
Deck 32/29)

Luke didn't show any signs of pain, but he did show a sign of annoyance once the light had stopped shining on him. His shoulders were stiffening, his back was hunching forward, and even his lips have formed into a frown.

"I wasn't told that you had a card that could do that," growled Luke as his grip tightened on his handles.

"How do you even know what cards I have at all?" said Rua, glancing at the other man to his side for a brief moment. "In fact, how do you know I have a dragon type monster?"

"You can't really be that ignorant, can you?" mocked Luke with a smirk. "Only one person in the world owns the Deformers series, and I was sent to take care of you, Rua."

"How do you know that I'm him?" said Rua, eyes narrowing in apprehension. "How do you know that I didn't just take it from him? From what I hear, the guy's dead."

"You can pretend all you want, you can try to hide all you want, but our master will always be aware of your presence as long as you live," said Luke in a factual manner as he continued to smirk. "Just make it easier for both of us and give up."

"My sister was attacked by one of your people in order to lure me out," growled Rua as his whole body tensed in rage at the memory. "We were told that your master wanted me dead for some reason. And that guard exploding back at the prison was your master's first attempt at doing so wasn't it? Just what do you people want me dead for?!"

"You are something that our master doesn't see fit in this world, and I frankly have to agree," said Luke, his smirk now reverting to a frown again. The two passed by several more buildings; a few looking the same as earlier ones. "Someone like you should not exist!"

"What does that even mean?!" screamed Rua as his anger rose more and more from learning almost nothing from the answer he has received.

"Shut up and get back to the Duel!" yelled Luke, seeming to lose his cool for once. "You could have been dead ten minutes ago if you hadn't started asking pointless questions."

"Grr…I'll tune my level 4 Deformer – Radicassen with my level 3 Tuner Deformer Remocon," said Rua before beginning to chant. "Docking strength with courage to protect world peace! Synchro Summon! The envoy of love and justice, Power Tool Dragon!"

(Power Tool Dragon  
7 stars Synchro/effect monster  
Earth Attribute  
Machine type  
ATK 2,300 DEF 2,500)

As the chant was being said, Remocon dissimilated into three glowing green stars that each went around in a circle again and again until they blended so well that you couldn't tell they were stars anymore. Radicassen started to become transparent, and four shining green stars could be seen within. Radicassen transformed back into its robot form and leapt in the air and into the three rings that were once Remocon. A great flash of light occurred, and a new monster took the place of the two.

What emerged from the light was a yellow and gray mechanical dragon. Each of its feet had three toes; two at the front, and one at the heel. The legs were all yellow, save for a white circle around the thighs. Its stomach was slim and gray as its chest appeared to be wearing yellow body armor. On the mechanical dragon's back were four yellow airplane-ish type wings. The arms were very different from each other as well. Though both arms were thin and gray, the right hand was a giant blue digger, while the left one held a jackhammer above the wrist. The tail was long and gray with the tip in the form of a shovel. The neck was gray and long as well, though not as long, and had blade-like spikes traveling on it. The face itself was yellow and looked to be snapped on, while the eyes were a blazing red. The robotic creature gave what one could only imagine was a mechanical roar.

"Cyber Summon Blaster's effect activates," lamented Luke as the cannon to the machine behind him turned towards Rua again, and gathered up electrical energy before firing it at him.

"And Lighton stops me from taking the damage, and instead inflicts it back at you," said Rua as said monster got in the way and absorbed the attack into its lens, just before flashing brightly on the other Riding-Duelist.

(Luke: LP 3,400 Rua: LP 1,000  
SC: 4/4  
Hand 1/2  
Deck 32/29)

"Now I'll tune my level 7 Power Tool Dragon with my level 1 Tuner Deformer Lighton," said Rua before beginning to chant. "The Courage and Power to protect the Future of the Planet is a Revolution! Synchro Summon! Evolve, Life Stream Dragon!"

(Life Stream Dragon

8 stars Synchro/Tuner monster

Earth Attribute

Dragon type

ATK 2,900 DEF 2,400)

As the chant was being said, Lighton dissimilated into one glowing green star that went around in a circle again and again until it blended so well that you couldn't tell it was a star anymore. Power Tool Dragon started to become transparent, and seven shining green stars could be seen within. Power Tool Dragon flew in the air and into the ring that was once Lighton. A great flash of light occurred, and a new monster took the place of the two.

During the flash, all of the armor and machinery had broken off of the mechanical dragon to reveal a real dragon underneath it all. Its colors were no longer a mix of yellow and gray, but brown and orange instead. The jackhammer was replaced by a blade that possibly resembles a scalpel, while the digger was replaced by an actual hand that was the same size as its left one. The tip of the tail looked more like a leaf than a shovel, its four airplane-ish wings were now thin and bug-like, and its red eyes had became brown.

"When Life Stream Dragon is Synchro Summoned, any number of players of my choosing whose Life Points are lower than 2,000 become 2,000," said Rua as he and Luke made several quick turns on their D-Wheels on a particular convoluted pathway.

The bug-like wings of the dragon glowed as bright and beautifully as the aurora lights. Both Rua and the custom made D-Wheel that Aporia had created were covered in a shining teal light. By the time the light had vanished, so had all of his wounds that he has received from this match.

(Luke: LP 3,400 Rua: LP 2,000  
SC: 4/4  
Hand 1/2  
Deck 32/29)

"Life Stream Dragon, attack Machiners Soldier! Life's Beauty Howl!" cried Rua, feeling the anger from the other man's eyes, and reciprocating right back through his dragon's attack as it launched a golden beam straight out of its mouth towards the declared target.

A/N: We never understood what Rua really did wrong in episode 20. Yes, we know he broke into the garage to get a look at Bommer's D-Wheel in hope that Yusei might have an edge by knowing about it in advance. However, simply knowing about his D-Wheel before seeing it wouldn't have helped Yusei win his match against the guy at all (now giving Yusei information about cards in Bommer's deck would have been a different story).

I should hope that I made it obvious who this Psychic Duelist is, and I also hope that I wrote his character down well enough. Believe it or not, we actually planned on using him since the beginning. Before any of you asks: no, he is not the main bad guy in this story.

The Deformers series always felt like a one of a kind type deck on the show to me, so I just decided to write it as such (there's nothing on the show that can contradict the idea anyways).

Obviously, the Duel will be concluded in the next chapter.

I feel kind of bad that it's been over a year since I first posted this story, and I haven't even gotten to the main plot yet. Well, it's getting close now.


End file.
